What about that pesky County Charter?

By Bryan P. Sears
Posted: June 29, 2009

Former County Executive Don Hutchinson may or may not be seriously considering a run for his old office, but the mere mention of the possibility has raised an interesting question involving the County Charter.

Baltimore County executives have been restricted to two consecutive term limits since 1978, when Hutchinson was elected. Since then no executive has served more than two terms. Now the question arises as to what one tiny little clause in the County Charter may really mean.

The language establishing the term limits for the executive office says simply: “the county executive shall be ineligible to serve for more than two consecutive terms, beginning with the election in 1978.”

Sounds simple enough.

But Hutchinson sees the term-limit clause as more of a guideline than a rule.

“It doesn’t restrict a third term,” he told me last week. “I’ve never felt like there was a restriction.”

Some lawyers who have lots of experience with the charter say a fair reading of the clause might allow a third term if an executive took at least fours years off after the completion of a second term.

There’s no mention of the restriction in notes from the 1979 Charter Review Commission.

A similar commission convened in 1990 and, chaired by then Circuit Court Judge Jim Smith, does mention the provision.

Hutchinson was also on the commission and in charge of a subcommittee that reviewed the law governing the county’s executive branch of government.

“The commission recommends that the two consecutive term limitation imposed upon the county executive be repealed as unfair and a possible subversion of the will of the people,” according to the commission’s final report, dated April 30, 1990.

If Hutchinson does decide to run, it could take a court to ultimately decide what the charter really means when it comes to term limits.

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