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County delegation meets with Dorchester Council on 2026 priorities: juvenile crime, PILOT and local lease rules among topics
Summary
Sen. Johnny Mautz and Delegates Sheree Sample-Hughes, Chris Adams and Tom Hutchinson met with the Dorchester County Council to discuss 2026 legislative priorities including juvenile crime and auto theft, changes to notice requirements for short-term county leases, and volunteer firefighters’ workers’ compensation eligibility; Council members raised concerns about solar rules and state-owned property tax status.
Dorchester County’s legislative delegation met with the County Council on Sept. 16 to review proposed Maryland General Assembly priorities for 2026 and to hear local concerns.
Sen. Johnny Mautz and Delegates Sheree Sample-Hughes, Chris Adams and Tom Hutchinson joined Council members to discuss public-safety concerns, including safety when passing vehicles stopped on shoulders and juvenile crime focusing on auto theft and related offenses. The delegation and Council also discussed proposed statutory changes: amending Local Government Article 10-312(f) to allow counties to enter into leases of county-owned property for terms of five years or less without the current requirement for three successive weeks of published notice; and amending Labor & Employment Article 9-234(k) to give counties discretion to define workers’ compensation eligibility for volunteer fire and rescue members based on operational status.
Councilman Mike Detmer raised additional items for the delegation’s attention, including the status of state-owned property within county land that is off the local tax rolls, concerns about solar regulations and state blanket rules for sprinklers and critical areas, and the local impact of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Councilman William V. Nichols praised the delegation’s teamwork on Eastern Shore issues. Delegate Sample-Hughes was noted for her professionalism on the floor in the previous legislative session.
No formal votes or endorsements were taken during the briefing; the session served as an exchange of local priorities and clarifications ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
