Montgomery County committees advance pay for Police Accountability trial board members, strike retroactive pay

Montgomery County council committees on Monday advanced Bill 12‑24, which would provide per‑day compensation for civilian members serving on Police Accountability Board (PAB) trial boards and adjust pay for the PAB/Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) chair, while unanimously agreeing to delete a retroactive‑pay provision that staff said state law prohibits.

The measure, presented by staff member Christine Wellens, would "provide compensation to civilian members of the police trial board, in the amount of $500 per day of trial," she said, describing the payment as aimed at "assist[ing] with recruitment" and offsetting the uncompensated time members spend preparing evidence and testimony. Wellens told the joint Public Safety and Government Operations Committee that staff recommends removing the bill's uncodified Section 2 because "retroactive compensation" is not permitted under state law.

The committees heard from Earl Stoddard, assistant chief administrative officer to the county executive, who said the $500 figure was an early, substantially arbitrary choice intended to make service feasible for people who would otherwise lose work time. "When we originally drafted this number there were no comparators," Stoddard said, adding that a flat rate recognizes review and preparation time that would be hard to audit if billed by the hour. He said officials were open to a lower number and supported tying the rate to the consumer price index to avoid frequent revisits.

Councilmember Lukey and others offered Central Maryland comparators to inform the decision: Anne Arundel County pays training and $125 per day; Baltimore County has a $50 per‑day per diem; Prince George's County pays an hourly rate that can amount to up to $480 per day. Lukey said he would "be willing to entertain" a $350 daily figure if the council also includes CPI adjustment language.

Several council members said recruiting a representative pool is a primary goal. Stoddard reported the county currently has four trial board members and hopes to expand the pool to about 10; he and members noted typical trials run two to three full days (about eight hours per day) though schedules can vary depending on witnesses and the administrative law judge. Members discussed returning to review how the compensation level affects recruitment and representativeness after the next operating budget, with several suggesting a June follow‑up evaluation.

On the staff recommendation to remove retroactive pay, Chair Katz said the committee lacked authority to grant retroactive compensation; members agreed to strike the provision by consensus. The committee then agreed by consensus to move Bill 12‑24 forward "in its entirety," with no roll‑call vote recorded.

The next steps are for the bill to proceed through the council process with the staff amendment removing retroactive pay; committee members requested that staff return with comparative data and a recruitment report for review around June following the next operating budget cycle.