With the imminent departure of Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan, the law governing appointment of the county’s IG once again has come into play.

And once again, there appears to be some unnecessary confusion about the provisions of that law.

Madigan announced in a December 1 letter to the public that she will resign effective January 2 to become Howard County’s IG.

In the letter, she stated that “I have appointed Deputy Inspector General Steven Quisenberry to serve as Acting Inspector General during the transition.”

Nothing in county law gives Madigan the power to appoint an acting IG to whom she can delegate her duties and responsibilities.

Quisenberry has referred to an office succession plan that allows him to step in as the acting IG.

For the reasons described below, a succession plan not based on an explicit provision of the county charter is insufficient to give Madigan the power to appoint an acting IG.

Moreover, not even the county administrative officer or county executive has the power to name an acting IG to take over for an IG either during temporary absences or during the time between the IG leaving office and the selection of a permanent replacement.

A fair number of county residents and at least one news outlet have construed Madigan’s letter to mean that Quisenberry could serve as acting IG throughout the remainder of Baltimore County Executive Klausmeier’s term.

That’s not correct, and the county should clear up the misunderstanding.

Open Search Requirement

The only process for conferring the IG’s legal authority on an individual is spelled out in Section 1014(c) of the Baltimore County Charter.

It begins with the requirement that an “open search process” be conducted before appointment.

As County Executive Kathy Klausmeier belatedly admitted last May, there is an exception to the open search requirement if the county executive, with approval of the county council, chooses to appoint the current IG to a second term.

The open search requirement applies to an appointment of a new IG, including the replacement for Madigan when she leaves in two weeks.

When Madigan’s resignation takes effect, there will be no one with the authority to exercise the powers conferred on the IG by the county charter until the open search process is completed and Klausmeier’s appointee is approved by the council.

There is a well-established body of case law that applies to this situation.

There is a well-established body of case law that applies to the situation at hand.

The position of Baltimore County Inspector General is a public office upon which county law confers specific duties and responsibilities. County law gives the IG powers to carry out those duties and responsibilities.

An “Acting Inspector General” assumes the duties, responsibilities and powers of an IG when the IG is absent or the office is vacant awaiting appointment of a new IG. For all practical purposes, the acting IG becomes the IG for a limited period of time.

While in office, a Baltimore County IG may delegate to subordinates the authority to take certain actions in furtherance of the IG’s duties, responsibilities and powers.

He or she may not designate an acting IG, however, because the duties, responsibilities and powers assigned by law to a specific public official may not be transferred to someone else in the absence of explicit authority in the law to do so.

Section 406 is in the charter to provide explicit authority for the appointment of acting heads of offices and departments.

Because of the way the 2024 charter amendment that placed the office of the IG in the charter was drafted, Section 406 does not apply to the IG.

Vacancies Act Does Not Apply

Section 406 of the county charter includes a general provision for designation of acting heads of offices and departments in “administrative services” (Office of Budget and Finance, Police Department, Office of Law, Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections, etc.) in the event of temporary absences or vacancies.

The power to designate acting heads of offices and departments is conferred on the county administrative officer, subject to approval by the county executive.

Section 406 provides that, in the case of vacancies, the acting heads serve until the permanent heads are appointed. It is the county’s equivalent of the federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Act).

Bill 83-23 was the legislation drafted by the administration of former county executive Johnny Olszewski that proposed the amendment to the county charter approved by the voters in 2024 that added Section 1014 to the charter.

Section 1014 governs appointment of the county IG.

The charter amendment did not include the IG’s office in the county’s “administrative services” as defined in and governed by Article V of the charter, as County Attorney James Benjamin recently pointed out to Madigan.

It placed the office in the “miscellaneous” provisions of the charter set forth in Article X.

Section 406 therefore does not apply to the IG and provides no authority for appointment of an acting IG.

Charter Amendment is Required

Alternatively, the appointment of an acting IG could have been addressed by including provisions specific to the IG in the 2024 charter amendment proposed by Bill 83-23, but it wasn’t.

For example, this is language from the Baltimore City Charter: “The Inspector General shall appoint a Deputy Inspector General, who shall serve as the Acting Inspector General if the Inspector General is absent or unavailable for duty.”

No such language appears in the Baltimore County Charter.

The Howard County Charter, unlike Section 1014 of the Baltimore County Charter, delegates authority over the process for appointing an IG to the county council, and the council enacted language identical to the language in the city charter in the Howard County Code.

The lack of authority to appoint an acting IG in Baltimore County can be fixed only by another charter amendment. In the meantime, actions taken in the course of discharging the IG’s duties and responsibilities by a person who is not lawfully empowered to do so are subject to legal challenge.

Worse Case Scenario

Ironically, Madigan’s resignation sets up the worst case scenario for proponents of a strong inspector general: Appointment by Klausmeier of an inspector general to a four-year term.

In May, after Madigan’s first term in office had concluded, Klausmeier conducted the open search process required by law before appointment of a new inspector general.

She defended her action by incorrectly implying that she lacked the authority to re-appoint Madigan to a second term subject only to confirmation by the county council.

Although Madigan applied for appointment to a second term, Klausmeier named Khadija Walker to replace her. There was an enormous public outcry over that decision.

The council ultimately voted 5-2 not to confirm Walker, and a chastened Klausmeier indicated that she would allow Madigan to continue to serve in a “holdover” capacity until a new county executive takes office in December 2026.

With Madigan soon gone, the situation has changed.

Klausmeier will have to re-open the search, make an appointment and submit it to the council for confirmation.

Ideally, this process should have started immediately after Madigan submitted her resignation. What happens now is up in the air.

• David A. Plymyer retired as Anne Arundel County Attorney after 31 years in the county law office. He can be reached at dplymyer@comcast.net and Twitter @dplymyer.