(a) Establishment. There is an Administrative Charging Committee for the County.
(b) Membership. The Committee has 5 voting members. The members are:
(1) the Chair of the Police Accountability Board or another member of the Board designated by the Chair;
(2) 2 civilian members appointed by the Police Accountability Board; and
(3) 2 civilian members appointed by the Executive.
(c) Composition and qualifications of members. The Committee consists of a chair and 4 additional members. The members of the Committee must reflect the racial, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, and cultural diversity of the County. Each member must reside in the County and be able to demonstrate through professional or lived experience the ability to balance effective oversight, perform objective analysis of an investigation report, and practice procedural fairness.
(d) Training. Each member of the Committee must complete training on matters relating to police procedures from the Maryland Police Training and Standard Commission before serving as a member.
(e) Staff. The Chief Administrative Officer must provide appropriate dedicated full-time staff to the Committee and make available to the Committee services and facilities that are necessary or appropriate for the proper performance of its duties. The County Attorney must retain special legal counsel approved by the Council to serve as counsel to the Committee.
(f) Compensation. The annual salary for the Chair is $22,000 and the annual salary for each member is $16,000. The salary for the Chair and each member must be adjusted on the first Monday in December by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or a successor index.
(g) Meetings. The Committee must meet at least one time each month or more frequently if needed.
(h) Term of office. Each member serves a 3-year term. A member must not serve more than 2 consecutive full terms. A member appointed to fill a vacancy serves the rest of the unexpired term. Members continue in office until their successors are appointed and qualified.
(i) Duties. The Committee must:
(1) review the findings of each law enforcement agency’s investigation forwarded by the agency to the Committee;
(2) review any body camera footage that may be relevant to the matters covered in the complaint of misconduct;
(3) authorize a police officer called before the Committee to be accompanied by a representative;
(4) determine if the police officer who is the subject of the investigation should be administratively charged or not administratively charged within 30 days after receipt of the law enforcement agency’s investigatory file unless the Committee requests further review under subsections (j)(1) or (2);
(4) if the Committee determines that a police officer should be administratively charged, recommend discipline pursuant to the disciplinary matrix;
(5) if the Committee determines that a police officer should not be administratively charged, determine if:
(A) the allegations against the police officer are unfounded, including situations where existing departmental policy fails to properly address the situation for which the officer was charged; or,
(B) the police officer is exonerated;
(6) issue a written opinion for each complaint describing in detail the Committee’s findings, determinations, and recommendations; and
(7) forward the written opinion to the director of the appropriate law enforcement agency, the accused police officer, and the complainant.
(j) Authority of the Committee. The Committee may:
(1) request information or action from the law enforcement agency that conducted the investigation, including requiring additional investigation;
(2) issue subpoenas for documents or witnesses necessary to execute the Committee’s duties; and
(3) record, in writing, any failure of supervision that caused or contributed to a police officer’s misconduct.
(k) Confidentiality. Each member of the Committee must maintain confidentiality relating to a matter being considered by the Committee until final disposition of the matter.
(l) Duties of the law enforcement agency. The law enforcement agency must investigate and submit a written investigation report to the Administrative Charging Committee for each complaint received by the agency or referred to the agency by the Police Accountability Board. Each law enforcement agency must submit a monthly report to the Administrative Charging Committee detailing complaints received and the status of each investigation.
(m) Removal of a member. The Executive with the approval of at least 6 members of the Council may remove a member for:
(1) neglect of duty, including failure to complete mandatory training;
(2) misconduct in office;
(3) a member’s inability or unwillingness to perform the duties of the office;
(4) conduct that impairs a member from performing the duties of the office; or
(5) inability to meet the qualifications for a Board member mandated by State law or implementing regulations. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 12, §1.)