Carroll County bill would let commissioners set SOPs and require evaluations for local health staff; opponents warn of politicization

House Bill 1426 would let the Carroll County Board of Commissioners adopt standard operating procedures for the Carroll County Health Department and require written, annual evaluations of the deputy health officer and of local health department employees.

Sponsor Delegate Chris Tomlinson, filling in for Delegate April Rose, told the Health and Government Operations Committee on Oct. 24 that the measure does not create a new board of health but rather clarifies and formalizes oversight already in place. “Back in 1886 … the Maryland General Assembly passed … that the Board of County Commissioners … shall ex officio constitute a local Board of Health,” Tomlinson said, adding that “what this bill actually does is, it allows the, our Board of County Commissioners to establish SOPs … [and] do an annual evaluation of our deputy health officer.”

The bill would extend to deputy and other health department employees an evaluation regimen Tomlinson said already exists in statute for the health…