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Annual Financial Disclosure Guide for County Employees
Annual Financial Disclosure Guide for External Recipients
Financial Disclosure Statement for County Executive Candidates
Financial Disclosure Statement for County Council Member Candidates
Guidelines for Conflicts of Interest
Political Advocacy by Ethics Commission Member
Filing an ethics complaint is a serious matter. Your complaint will be individually reviewed by the Ethics Commission. It is important to provide as much detail as possible in the complaint. Below are the recommended steps in order to file your complaint.
The County, recognizing that its system of representative government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in its public officials and employees, has found and declared that the people have a right to be assured that the impartiality and independent judgment of public officials and employees will be maintained. It is evident that this confidence and trust is eroded when the conduct of the County’s business is subject to improper influence and even the appearance of improper influence. For the purpose of guarding against improper influence, the County enacted this law to establish minimum standards for the conduct of County business.
All Board and Commission members, officials and employees of the Frederick County Government are covered and are subject to the provisions of the Frederick County Ethics Law. The Frederick County Board of Education members and employees, the Frederick County State’s Attorney, the Frederick County Sheriff and the officials and employees of the Courts are not a part of the Frederick County Government and therefore are not covered by this law. All of those persons are covered by similar ethics laws.
Members of the Commission are volunteers who serve without compensation. Seven regular members and 1 alternate member are appointed to the Commission by the County Executive and confirmed by the County Council for terms of 3 years each. Members elect a chairperson, who presides at the meetings.
The main duties and activities of the Ethics Commission are:
The Frederick County Ethics Law prohibits all covered persons from acting in their County positions in any matter that would have a direct financial impact on them or on a close relative or business associate. The law also prohibits County Government officials and employees from being employed by or having an interest in a company or business that does business with the County Government or is regulated by their agency. Likewise, it prohibits County officials and employees from soliciting or accepting gifts from anyone who is negotiating a contract with the County Government or is regulated by their agency, with certain nominal exceptions. The law also prohibits former employees or officials from dealing with the County Government following their termination of employment on any matter that they substantially participated in while still with the Government. The law further prohibits officials and employees from using the prestige of their office or from using “insider” information for their own gain or to help another unfairly.
Nearly all Frederick County officials and all of the top supervisory employees of the County Government are required to submit annual financial disclosure statements, which are maintained as public documents. They are required to list all of their real estate holdings, any and all businesses in which they have an interest, and any other employment.
There are provisions in the Ethics Law for lobbyists to register and file disclosure statements with the Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Law authorizes the Ethics Commission to grant exemptions from the Ethics Law for the following:
These exemptions must be applied for either in person or in writing to the Ethics Commission. Enforcement and Penalties:
The Frederick County Ethics Law and all of the efforts of the Frederick County Ethics Commission are aimed at preventing conflicts of interest by public officials and employees and assisting those persons who may have inadvertently violated the law into correcting the situation and complying with the law.
If anyone has any further questions or seeks more information concerning the Ethics Law or its application to a particular situation, one may talk to any of the Ethics Commission members, or may call or write to the Frederick County Attorney’s Office, which by law serves as the legal advisor to the Frederick County Ethics Commission. The address is:
Frederick County Ethics Commission
c/o Frederick County Attorney’s Office
Winchester Hall
12 E. Church St.
Frederick, MD 21701
Ph: 301-600-1030
To inspect public records such as financial disclosure statements, lobbyist registrations, and lobbyist activity reports that are not available online, please contact Kim Long at 301-600-1030.