The Caroline County Ethics Commission voted to approve amendments to its Rules of Procedure and instructed staff to implement the changes, including updating references to county staff roles and the commission's meeting location.

The changes remove references to "county attorney" and "chief of staff," replacing them with wording that refers to the commission's attorney and the board administrator, respectively, to reflect current staffing and to ensure the rules apply regardless of which lawyer represents the commission. Commissioners also agreed to keep the commission's annual meeting in June to coincide with the due date for financial-disclosure filings and to update the published meeting address and contact information for advisory-opinion requests.

Commission members reopened the meeting from a closed session that had been held to discuss financial-disclosure forms under Chapter 33 of the Caroline County Code, section 3-305(b)(7). The commission said no decisions were made during the closed session. During open discussion, members noted the county's legal staffing arrangements have changed since the rules were drafted and that some language appears to predate the county's current office-of-law arrangement.

The board administrator said the commission's office and meeting location are now at 425 Colonial Drive in Denton and that online financial-disclosure forms will be updated so filings and any ethics complaints or requests to review will be sent directly to the commission office. Commissioners confirmed that the Rules of Procedure allow amendments to be introduced at any meeting and agreed they could adopt the revisions that evening.

A motion to "approve the changes as discussed and instruct Ms. Rader to make those changes" was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. The chair then moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded and the meeting was adjourned.

The action updates only the commission's internal procedure language and meeting logistics; it does not itself change the county code or the statutory authority cited for closed-session discussion of financial-disclosure forms.