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Public hearing held on incorporating House Bill 834 into Calvert County ethics code
Summary
The Board conducted a public hearing on an ethics-code amendment to implement Maryland’s House Bill 834; one resident spoke in favor, the board closed the record and staff will return no sooner than 10 days with proposed ordinance action.
The Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing July 15 on a proposed amendment to Chapter 41 (Ethics) of the Calvert County Code to implement Chapter 370, Laws of Maryland 2024 (commonly referenced in the meeting as House Bill 834). The hearing was conducted by Emily Shreve, staff liaison to the Calvert County Ethics Commission.
Why it matters: House Bill 834 requires the ethics commission to publicly disclose recommendations to expel a commissioner and authorizes a governing body to remove county elected officials for certain conflict‑of‑interest violations; the proposed local amendment would update the county code to reflect those state provisions.
The staff memo summarized background and directed that the Ethics Commission recommended amending Chapter 41 to implement the Maryland law. The memo noted no fiscal impact. One person signed up to speak in person: Susan Desert of Huntingtown (identified as a former member of Calvert Citizens United). Desert told the board she supports enacting House Bill 834 into the county ethics code, saying the change could reduce chances of unethical behavior by elected officials.
After public comment the board voted to close the record on the hearing. Staff will return to the board no sooner than 10 days after the record closed with the proposed ordinance for board consideration, the memo and staff said. The July 15 hearing record was duly advertised and the certificate of publication was made part of the record, staff noted.
No final vote to amend Chapter 41 was taken at the July 15 meeting; the public hearing record was closed and the item will return to the board for a future decision.
