(a) There is a County Mental Health Advisory Committee.
(b) The Committee has 19 voting members and at least 3 nonvoting ex officio members.
(1) The voting members are:
(A) 7 individuals selected from or representing:
(i) the County Executive;
(ii) the County Council;
(iii) the County public schools;
(iv) the practicing physicians in the County;
(v) mental health professionals in the County who are not physicians;
(vi) the clergy in the County;
(vii) the legal profession in the County;
(viii) a local law enforcement agency;
(ix) a local general hospital that contains an inpatient psychiatric unit;
(x) the Area Agency on Aging;
(xi) the Department of Juvenile Services;
(xii) the Department of Health and Human Services; and
(xiii) a local community rehabilitation or housing program;
(B) 4 individuals who are currently receiving or have in the past received mental health services;
(C) 3 parents or other relatives of adults with mental disorders;
(D) 3 parents or other relatives of children or adolescents with emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders, the onset of which occurred during childhood or adolescence;
(E) a representative from the local mental health association; and
(F) a member of the general public.
(2) The ex officio, nonvoting members are the following individuals or their designees:
(A) the State Mental Hygiene Administration Regional Mental Health Director who serves the County;
(B) a representative of a State inpatient facility that serves the County;
(C) Director of the County Department of Health and Human Services; and
(D) if there are designated State inpatient beds located in County general hospitals, a representative from those facilities.
(c) A committee member must not receive direct or indirect monetary benefits from State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene grants or contracts, except local general hospitals that contain a clinic or State designated inpatient beds, a local community rehabilitation or housing program, and the representative from the County mental health association. In this Section, monetary benefits do not include reimbursement for ordinary expenses, such as travel, or compensation received by a government employee.
(d) Each member is appointed for a 3-year term. A member appointed to complete an unexpired term serves until a successor is appointed and qualifies. The Executive appoints voting members subject to confirmation by the Council. The State Director of Mental Hygiene appoints the representative of the State inpatient facility under State law. A voting member who has served 2 consecutive full terms must not be reappointed for 2 years after completing those terms. (1976 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 1979 L.M.C., ch. 18, § 1; FY 1991 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 1; CY 1991 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1; 1992 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 1; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 19, §1.)
Editor’s note—1995 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 5, reads as follows: “Sec. 5. A regulation that implements a function assigned to the Department of Health and Human Services by 1995 L.M.C., ch. 13, continues in effect but is amended to the extent necessary to provide that the regulation is administered by the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services.”