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110 Op. Md. Att'y Gen. 3 (2025)

handle is hein.sag/sagmd0114 and id is 1 raw text is: PUBLIC SAFETY POLICE OFFICERS - POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISCIPLINE PREEMPTION - WHAT PROCEDURES APPLY TO A COMPLAINT OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST A COUNTY POLICE OFFICER NOT INVOLVING A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC February 13, 2025 The Honorable Steuart L. Pittman, Jr. County Executive, Anne Arundel County The Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 (the Police Accountability Act or the Act) created a new framework for handling complaints of police misconduct. See 2021 Md. Laws, ch. 59 (codified as amended at Md. Code Ann., Pub. Safety (PS) §§ 3-101 to 3-114). The Act establishes detailed procedures for misconduct complaints involving a member of the public. But some complaints originate within the law enforcement agency and allege police misconduct that does not involve any member of the public. Anne Arundel County requested an official opinion of the Attorney General to clarify what procedures govern these fully internal complaints. The County's opinion request specifically concerns one category of fully internal complaints: complaints of discrimination involving a police officer but not involving a member of the public. The County has a general policy governing discrimination complaint against County employees, but the County Police Department has its own procedures for fully internal misconduct complaints against officers. The County asked which policy would govern a fully internal discrimination complaint against a County police officer. As a general rule, we will issue official opinions of the Attorney General only on substantial questions of State law with ramifications beyond the specific local facts giving rise to the request. Here, although the County's question on its face addresses local law, it requires us to consider legal questions of statewide importance: the Act's procedural requirements for fully internal complaints and its relationship with local laws generally. The County Attorney's view is that, as a matter of County law, the general County policy would govern, except where State law or regulations require otherwise. The relationship between two county policies adopted by different agencies of county government is normally a question of local law, on which we would 3

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