{"data":{"id":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-9-311","jurisdiction":"us-md","citation":"Md. Code, Local Government § 9–311","heading":"","body":"(a) A county commissioner of a code county may introduce a bill on any\nlegislative day.\n(b) (1) (i) Not later than the next day after the introduction of a bill,\nthe presiding officer of the county commissioners shall schedule a public hearing on\nthe bill.\n(ii) A bill may be rejected after its introduction without a\nhearing by a vote of at least two–thirds of the total membership of the county\ncommissioners.\n(2) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph,\nthe public hearing on a bill shall be held not less than 7 days after introduction of the\nbill.\n(ii) For an emergency bill, the public hearing shall be held not\nless than 3 days after introduction of the emergency bill.\n(3) The public hearing on a bill:\n(i) need not be held on a legislative day; and\n(ii) may be adjourned from time to time.\n(c) (1) After the introduction of a bill, a copy of the bill and notice of the\ndate, time, and place of the hearing shall be posted:\n(i) as soon as practicable;\n(ii) on an official bulletin board in a public place in the building\nin which the county commissioners usually meet; and\n(iii) in a manner that provides the public ready access to the\ncopy of the bill and the notice during regular business hours.\n(2) Additional copies of the bill and notice of the hearing shall be\nmade available to the public.\n(d) Each copy of a bill shall contain:\n(1) the name of the county commissioner who introduced the bill; and\n(2) the date the bill was introduced.\n(e) (1) An amendment proposed to a bill shall be in writing.\n(2) A copy of each amendment shall be made available for inspection\nby the public.\n(f) (1) After a public hearing, a bill may be finally passed on a legislative\nday with or without amendment.\n(2) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph,\nif a bill is amended before final passage, the bill may not be passed until it is reprinted\nas amended.\n(ii) If an emergency bill is amended before final passage, the\nemergency bill need not be reprinted as amended.\n(3) Except for an emergency bill, a bill may not be passed less than 7\ndays after its introduction.\n(g) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, to become\na public local law, a bill shall be passed by an affirmative vote of the majority of the\ntotal membership of the county commissioners.\n(2) An emergency bill shall be passed:\n(i) by an affirmative vote of at least four–fifths of the total\nmembership; or\n(ii) if the total membership is three members, by an\naffirmative vote of at least two members.\n(h) (1) The county commissioners shall keep a journal that shall be open\nto public inspection at all reasonable times.\n(2) On final passage of a bill, the yea and nay votes shall be recorded\nin the journal.\n(i) Each bill that passes, or a fair summary of it, shall be published:\n(1) in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county;\n(2) at least three times;\n(3) at weekly intervals; and\n(4) within the 4–week period after passage of the bill.","path":["Article - Local Government"],"source_url":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=glg\u0026section=9-311","current_through":"2026-01-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:59:58Z","sha256":"f892b6da70aab96718377ab96d122cfe5e6070c99c2963619df0ceafb112849a","source_id":"us-md","stale":false,"prev":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-9-310","next":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-9-312"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}