Howard County Board of Appeals approves March 13 minutes and votes to meet in closed session to obtain legal advice

The Howard County Board of Appeals voted to approve the meeting minutes for March 13, 2025, and later voted to close the work session to consult counsel on the legal sufficiency of the proposed rules of procedure.

Approve minutes: Chair Ryan called for a motion to approve the 03/13/2025 minutes. Miss Faircup moved and Miss Phillips seconded. Miss Burke conducted a roll call; the minutes were approved with the board recording votes of approval from Chair Ryan, Miss Faircup, Miss Harris, Miss Phillips and Miss Shue.

Closed session: Later in the meeting the board announced its intent to close in accordance with the Annotated Code of Maryland, General Provisions Article §3-305(b)(7), to consult with counsel about pending or potential litigation and to obtain legal advice regarding the proposed rules of procedure. The motion to close was moved and seconded. An administrator-conducted roll call recorded approvals by Chair Ryan, Miss Faircup, Miss Harris, Miss Phillips and Miss Shue. The board paused the public livestream and entered closed session.

Why it matters: The closed session was taken specifically to obtain privileged legal advice on the draft rules, including questions the board had raised about petition forms, hearing-examiner authority and whether alternates require charter changes. Board members and counsel noted that discussing written legal advice outside a closed session could waive attorney-client privilege.

Speakers (selected) - Chair Ryan — Chair, Howard County Board of Appeals (government) - Miss Faircup — Board member (government) - Miss Phillips — Board member (government) - Miss Burke — Administrative staff (called roll) (government) - Mr. Cook — Counsel, Office of Law (government)

Authorities cited - statute: Annotated Code of Maryland, General Provisions Article §3-305(b)(7) — authority cited for closing session to consult counsel - other: Howard County Charter, Article 2 §2-07 — referenced regarding punishment authority in a separate discussion

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