Anne Arundel County has enacted a substantial widening of its county-level anti-discrimination laws, granting its own Human Relations Commission broader range to hear cases involving private sector employment and housing discrimination cases.
Bill 21-24, AN ORDINANCE concerning: General Provisions – Equity and Human Rights – Boards, Commissions, and Similar Bodies – Human Relations Commission, has passed the Anne Arundel County Council unanimously, and should be signed into law – as the bill as introduced at the request of the county administration. The bill creates a broader role for anti-discrimination matters to be considered at the county level, beyond merely those involving county employment matters.
From the Council staff’s summary of the bill:
The purpose of Bill No. 21-24 is to provide for an enforcement mechanism for administrative subpoenas issued by the Human Relations Commission; to rename and expand the scope of anti-discrimination protections of Article 1, Title 9; to extend the anti-discrimination protections of Article 1, Title 9 beyond housing to include non-County employment and public accommodations; to revise the qualifications for members of the Human Relations Commission; to expand the powers of the Human Relations Commission to allow it to address complaints of discrimination in non-County employment and public accommodations; to define and establish the powers and duties of the Human Relations Officer; to provide for the investigations of complaints of discrimination in these areas; to update the process and procedure for resolving a complaint filed with the Human Relations Commission; and to provide for civil penalties for violations of the anti-discrimination provisions or Article 1, Title 9 consistent with the authority granted to counties under the Maryland Express Powers Act.
The new county law largely mirrors similar provisions in other larger Maryland jurisdictions.
For more information on the bill, visit these links on the County Council website:
Bill 21-24 bill text
Fiscal Note 21-24
Legislative Summary 21-24
