On October 23, 2022, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD wrote to Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and asked the Attorney General to answer the question: Can the Montgomery County Council change the statutory term for Planning Board appointments so that they are only temporary appointments?
Today the Attorney General's office responded:
Wed 10/26/2022 12:58 PMDear Ms. Sartucci,
Thank you for contacting the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.
The Attorney General is the legal counsel for the State of Maryland and its agencies. As such, this Office provides legal advice to state agencies, boards and commissions and investigates and prosecutes crimes against the State. The Office further represents the State in all cases pending in the Appellate Courts of the State, and in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower Federal Courts. To learn more about the Office of the Attorney General, follow this link: http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/
Under the longstanding policy of the Attorney General’s Office, we are unable to respond to requests for advisory legal opinions from private citizens. We simply do not have the resources to undertake the many hours of legal research and writing that would be necessary to respond in the form of an official opinion to the hundreds of inquiries that our Office regularly receives from private citizens. Instead, we must limit ourselves to opinion requests from the various State government agencies and officers that, by law, we are required to represent as well as, on occasion, to requests from local governments. See http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/Opinions/faq.aspx (explaining our Office’s policy regarding official opinions).
Thank you again for contacting our Office.
Sincerely,
Citizen Response Coordinator
Office of the Attorney General
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Who can request an Opinion from the MD Attorney General's office:
...The Maryland Constitution directs that the Attorney General is to give an "opinion in writing whenever required by the General Assembly ... the Governor, the Comptroller, the Treasurer or any State's Attorney on any legal matter or subject." Article V, §3...
...a request by a local government for an Opinion of the Attorney General must be made by the chief executive of the local government or by the presiding officer of the local legislative body on behalf of the entire body...
Don't hold your breath waiting for a volunteer.
ReplyDeleteThey are busy now electrifying everything:
Deletehttps://i0.wp.com/ccanactionfund.org/media/MoCo-Building-Decarbonization-IMG_6189.png?resize=1024%2C777&ssl=1
ReplyDelete"Under the longstanding policy of the Attorney General’s Office, we are unable to respond to requests for advisory legal opinions from private citizens."
However: "It's a wonderful job and I think of the job as being the people's lawyer, and I think we've had a huge impact," Frosh said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/i-still-love-the-job-maryland-ag-brian-frosh-ready-to-hand-over-role-to-new-candidate/