(a) The Commission may ask special counsel appointed under Section 19A-5(f)(4) or the County Attorney to, or the County Attorney may on his or her own initiative, seek injunctive or other appropriate relief to require compliance with this Chapter or Sections 2-109, 11B-51 or 11B-52(a) in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) The court may:
(2) void an official action if:
(A) the action arises from or involves the subject matter of a conflict of interest for which no waiver was granted;
(B) the outcome of the official action was substantially affected by the conflict of interest; and
(C) legal action is filed within 90 days after the official action.
(c) The court, after hearing and considering all the circumstances, may grant all or part of the relief sought. However, an official action is not voidable if that action:
(1) appropriates funds;
(2) levies a tax; or
(3) provides for the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidence of public obligation.
(d) Except as expressly provided otherwise, any remedy specified in this Article may be invoked regardless of whether the Commission has found, after holding a hearing under Section 19A-10(c), that a public employee violated this Chapter. (1990 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 1994 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.)
Editor's note—In Sugarloaf Citizens Ass'n., Inc. v. Gudis, 78 Md. App. 550, 554 A.2d 434 (1989), aff'd on other grounds, 319 Md. 558, 573 A.2d 1325 (1990), the Court of Special Appeals held that § 19A-22(b) did not create a private right of action to enforce the County ethics law and that the Ethics Commission has primary jurisdiction to hear and investigate complaints of violations of the County ethics law. In Sugarloaf Citizens Assoc., Inc., v. Gudis, 319 Md. 558, 573 A.2d 1325 (1990), the Court of Appeals held that § 19A-22(b) unconstitutionally granted to the judiciary discretionary authority to invalidate an action of the County Council (on the basis of conflict of interest) if the court deemed it in the "public interest" to do so. The court also held § 19A-22(b) to be severable such that the remainder of the County ethics law (§§ 19A-1 through 19A-32) continued in force. Section 19A-22(b) was subsequently renumbered § 19A-27(b) by 1990 L.M.C., ch. 21, without substantive change.
See County Attorney Opinion dated 8/23/02 describing the elements required for a complaint to the Ethics Commission to initiate an investigation.