(a) Commission on Human Rights. The Commission on Human Rights is established. The Commission has 15 members. The members are appointed by the County Executive and confirmed by the County Council. The members should be men and women who are broadly representative of the diverse population of the County. Each member serves a 3 year term. Each member of the Commission continues to serve until a successor has been appointed and confirmed. The members of the Commission serve without compensation.
(b) Commission case review boards.
(1) The Commission must appoint a case review board of 3 individuals to consider and decide each complaint that the director certifies to the Commission. The director promptly must certify a complaint to the Commission after the director determines under Section 27-7(f) whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent violated this Chapter, if:
(A) the director determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe a violation occurred and the complaint was not resolved by conciliation; or
(B) the director determined that there are no reasonable grounds to believe a violation occurred and the complainant appeals the director's decision to the Commission.
(2) Each member of a case review board must be a member of the Commission when appointed to the board.
(3) Each board member is subject to disqualification under Section 2A-8(i)(1)c. and must not have:
(A) any interest in the complaint;
(B) any close relationship with the parties;
(C) participated in the investigation of the complaint; or
(D) participated in any conciliation of the complaint before a hearing on the merits.
(4) A board member serves until the complaint is resolved, even if the board member's membership on the Commission ends before the case is resolved.
(c) Article I of Chapter 2A (appeals from administrative agencies) governs a hearing under Section 27-7(h), except as otherwise provided in this Chapter. The Commission may issue rules, as regulations under method (2), that establish any additional procedures it finds necessary for:
(1) the director to certify a complaint to the Commission;
(2) the Commission to select members of a case review board, including a board member to fill a vacancy that arises before the case is resolved;
(3) the Commission or the board to select a board chair;
(4) a board to decide in each case where a complainant appeals to the Commission under Section 27-7(f)(2) whether to conduct a hearing under Section 27-7(h); and
(5) a board to decide whether a hearing examiner or the board itself will conduct a hearing.
(d) As part of its annual budget submission, the Commission must report the number of complaints filed during the previous fiscal year and statistical information regarding the nature and disposition of complaints. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 77-1; Ord. No. 6-56; 1969 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 1972 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 1977 L.M.C., ch. 28, § 10; 1977 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 1; 1986 L.M.C., ch. 39, § 1; FY 1991 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1.)
Editor's note—The above section is mentioned in Broadcast Equities v. Montgomery County, 123 Md. App. 363, 718 A.2d 648 (1998), vacated, Montgomery County v. Broadcast Equities, Inc., 360 Md. 438, 758 A.2d 995 (2000) (Broadcast Equities, Inc. failed to exhaust its administrative remedies before the Human Relations Commission). The above section is cited and interpreted in American Red Cross v. Epperly, 351 Md. 216, 717 A.2d. 938 (1998). A rule adopted by the human relations commission which required landlords with twenty-five or more rental units to report quarterly on minority tenants, etc., was upheld against constitutional challenges in Montgomery County v. Fields Road Corporation, 282 Md. 575, 386 A.2d. 344 (1978). The above section is interpreted and applied in Holiday Spas v. Montgomery County Human Relations Commission, 70 Md.App. 344, 521 A.2d 340 (1987).
Cross reference—Boards and commissions generally, § 2-141 et seq.