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Pocomoke council adopts revisions to city ethics code to align with Maryland law
Summary
On second reading council approved amendments to Chapter 37 (ethics) to incorporate Maryland legislative changes and revise definitions, lobbying registration, disclosure deadlines, and enforcement penalties; the city attorney said the State Ethics Commission had approved the latest draft.
The Pocomoke City mayor and council approved Ordinance No. 2025-0-1 on second reading Monday, adopting comprehensive amendments to Chapter 37 of the municipal code that update local ethics requirements to align with changes enacted by the Maryland General Assembly.
City staff and the city attorney walked council through numerous technical updates: revised definitions (including business-entity and interests thresholds), expanded financial-disclosure and gift-reporting requirements, clarified lobbyist registration rules and reporting deadlines, updated retention periods for disclosure statements, and new enforcement provisions including late fees and civil fines. The ordinance text references House Bill 363 and House Bill 1058 (acts of 2021) and cites Maryland code provisions that require municipal ethics codes to be consistent with state standards.
The proposed changes also adjust thresholds for reporting interests (10%, 25%, 50% in various contexts), add restrictions on former regulated lobbyists and former elected officials (one-year cooling-off periods), and add protections against retaliation for reporting. The city attorney noted the State Ethics Commission had reviewed and approved the proposed amendments earlier in 2024.
Following a public hearing with no substantive opposition, a councilmember moved to approve Ordinance No. 2025-0-1; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The mayor noted a 2021 version of the ordinance had been returned for revision previously and that this iteration was approved by state reviewers.
The ordinance will be enacted according to the publication and effective-date provisions in the municipal code; city staff said they had submitted the revisions to the State Ethics Commission for review as required by state law.
