Last year, County Exec. Kevin Kamenetz signed Bill No. 35-17 into law.

The bill requires registered lobbyists to complete ethics training within the first six months of registration and once a year thereafter.

Training sessions have been scheduled at 9:30 a.m. on February 8 and June 4. Registration for the either training is available at the baltimore county website.

Bill No. 35-17 was signed by County Exec. Kevin Kamenetz on July 12, 2017.

Effective August 26, 2017, registered lobbyists will be required to complete ethics training within the first six months of registration and once a year thereafter. The training may be completed in person or online.

The Ethics Commission has yet to develop the training and will have more information available later this year.

The final version of the bill will be available after the County Council’s meeting on August 7, 2017. The current version of the bill, with an incorrect effective date, is available.

The Baltimore County Council passed an ethics bill requiring training for certain county government officials and registered lobbyists.

The bill requires the Ethics Commission to provide a training course for registered lobbyists at least twice a year. A registered lobbyist will be required to complete the initial training course within six months of registration, and once each year thereafter. The bill allows the training to be in-person or online.

According to the County Charter, the bill must be presented to County Exec. Kevin Kamenetz within two days and he has 10 days to approve or disapprove the legislation. If approved by Kamenetz, the bill will become effective on July 17, 2017.

Read the bill here.

The Baltimore County Council has passed a wide-ranging ethics bill after scaling back parts of the original bill proposed by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. A series of amendments sponsored by all seven council members weakened parts of the original bill dealing with when officials can accept gifts and what defines a conflict of interest for council members.

In an effort to exceed the requirements set by a 2010 state law, Kamenetz’s original bill said public officials could not accept gifts from someone they know does business “with the county.” The council narrowed the rule to say they could not accept gifts from anyone they know does business with the “public official’s office, agency, board or commission.”

The new bill also deleted an entire section defining conflicts of interest specifically for council members in favor of a broader definition that applies to all public officials. The new bill still requires elected officials’ financial disclosure forms to be posted online starting in May 2012.