Caroline County commissioners advance police-accountability ordinance after technical amendments

Caroline County commissioners on May 27 advanced a local ordinance establishing a Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee, adopting multiple technical amendments after a state training official told the panel that local governments must fill in gaps left by the state statute.

The move came after Wayne Silver, executive director of the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, briefed the commissioners on how counties across Maryland have implemented the Police Accountability Act and the ACC process. Commissioners then debated changes to legislative bill 2025-006 and approved several amendments; the board voted to send a redrafted ordinance to a third reading and make the revised version available for public review.

Why it matters: The ordinance would create a new chapter (Chapter 20) in the Caroline County Code defining the PAB, the ACC, and trial boards, including membership, training, meeting standards, and record-keeping. Commissioners said the local ordinance must provide procedural detail the state regulation left unspecified so ACCs and…