Carroll to Brief Community on Code, Commissioner, and Charter Forms of Local Government

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners (BOC) will host a forum to inform county residents on the three types of local government in Maryland. The panel will be held Tuesday, June 11, 2019; at 7:00 PM in Room K100 at Carroll Community College.

In January 2019, the commissioners chose to investigate and learn about code home rule and charter forms of government (Carroll currently operates under a commission form of government). This educational forum marks the first step in that process.

Commission counties have increasingly been granted a significant amount of local authority and discretion in addressing local affairs, authority sometimes referred to as “statutory home rule.” That notwithstanding, the powers granted commission counties are significantly more limited than the powers available to those counties that have adopted either charter or code home rule under the Maryland Constitution.

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According to a press release:

Three professionals knowledgeable in the forms of local government will give presentations followed by a question and answer session.

Members of the forum will be:

Leslie Knapp, Jr., Legal and Policy Counsel, Maryland Association of Counties (MACo)

  • Advises and guides the association on legal, liability and regulatory matters, affecting both the association itself and its member counties
  • Legislative Affairs Areas: environment, governmental liability and courts, parks and recreation, planning and zoning, and public information and ethics
  • Liaison to affiliates including attorneys, environmental health, engineers, planners and recreation and parks

Robert S. McCord, MBA, J.D., Secretary of the Maryland Department of Planning

  • Former Deputy Secretary/Acting Secretary of Planning
  • Former Assistant Secretary of Operations and Community, Maryland Department of Planning
  • Former Adjunct Professor/Faculty Advisor, University of Baltimore School of Law
  • Former Special Assistant to the Harford County Executive
  • Former Harford County Attorney

Victor Tervala, Esq., Chief Solicitor, Office of General Counsel

  • Advises clients throughout Maryland on legal structures, forms and powers of county and municipal government, state-local relations, and the historical precedents that underlie these legal structures
  • Serves as principal legal advisor on telecommunications and utility infrastructure
  • Maryland Bar Association, State and Local Government Section (member of Governance Committee)
  • Member of the Maryland Municipal Attorneys Association
  • University of Maryland at Baltimore, J.D. with honors, 1989
  • University of Maryland College Park, M.A., Government, and Politics, 1980
  • Tulane University, B.A., Political Science and International Relations, 1974

MACo provides a detailed comparison of the three types of government, as well as a chart of the current government structure for Maryland counties and Baltimore City.

The event will be live streamed and available for viewing after the session on the county meeting portal and YouTube channel. In addition, all meetings will be replayed on Comcast Channel 24.

Read the full press release for more information.