The Charter Amendment required the Wicomico County Council
to adopt a law providing for collective bargaining with binding arbitration
between the County and deputies of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. The
County Council adopted a law pursuant to the Charter Amendment, and the
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #1111, Inc. ("Appellants") filed an action in
the Circuit Court for Wicomico County against Wicomico County, the County
Executive and the County Council members ("Appellees"), seeking a declaratory
judgment that the law was not in compliance as enacted. Appellees filed a
counterclaim and Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds that the Charter
Amendment was unconstitutional.
Wicomico County is a charter home rule county, which is
governed by Article XI-A of the Maryland Constitution. Article XI-A sets forth
two procedures for amending county charters: (1) amendment may be proposed by a
county council, or (2) amendment may be filed with the county council, which
contains the signatures of at least 10,000 registered voters or twenty percent
of the registered voters if that number is less than 10,000.
Appellants obtained the requisite number of signatures and
filed an amendment with the county council that required the County Council to
enact a law providing for collective bargaining with binding arbitration with
the deputies in the County Sheriff’s Office. The proposed Charter Amendment
stated:
The Wicomico County Council shall provide by law for
collective bargaining with binding arbitration with an authorized representative
of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Any law so enacted shall
prohibit strikes or work stoppage by deputies. The County Council shall provide
by law a labor code for sworn employees of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office
to effectuate this charter provision. This section shall supercede any
conflicting provisions of the Wicomico County Charter or other Wicomico County
provisions.
It was added to the November 2006 ballot and was adopted by
voters. Accordingly, it became a part of the Wicomico County Charter. Pursuant
to this new amendment, the County Council passed a legislative bill that
mandated the decision of the arbitrator shall be binding on the County
Executive, but not on the County Council. The legislation stated, in pertinent
part:
The decision of the arbitrator shall be binding on the
County Executive, the Exclusive Representative, and the individual employees in
the representation unit.
. . .
On or before May 1, the County Council shall indicate by
resolution its intention to appropriate funds for or otherwise implement the
agreement or its intention not to do so, and shall state its reasons for any
intent to reject any part of the agreement.
Appellants petitioned for a writ of mandamus and complaint
for declaratory relief that the legislation did not make the arbitrator’s
decisions binding on the County Council, which violated the Charter. Before the
Court of Special Appeals could consider that question, it had to determine the
threshold issue of whether the Charter Amendment prompting the legislation was
constitutional.
The Court of Special Appeals held that the Amendment
requiring the County Council to enact a law binding itself to arbitration was
determined unconstitutional because it imposed on the legislative function of
the County Council. The constitutionality of the Charter Amendment turned on
whether the Amendment changed the form and structure of government or whether it
was legislative in nature. A Charter Amendment that is legislative in nature is
unconstitutional and impermissibly impinges on the County Council’s legislative
role.
The County Charter establishes the form and structure of the
County government. The County Council is vested with legislative functions. A
charter amendment may limit the fiscal power and authority of a county council
as part of a general structural change, or it can authorize a council to enact
or preclude a council from enacting some particular type of legislative,
however, it cannot require the council to exercise its legislative authority in
a certain way, as to a certain group, as it did here. The Charter Amendment
mandated the enactment of legislation which usurped the Council’s legislative
discretion with respect to a specific subject matter and a specific group of
employees.
Accordingly, the Charter Amendment was unconstitutional and
the law mandated by it was invalid.
Top
