SB 767 — Calvert County Sheriff: Deputy Sheriffs & Correctional Deputies — Collective Bargaining (Chapter 132, 2025)
Status / Key Dates
- Enacted as Chapter 132 of the 2025 Laws of Maryland.
- Approved by the Governor: April 22, 2025.
- Effective date: October 1, 2025.
Purpose
- To authorize specified full‑time deputy sheriffs and correctional deputies in the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office to organize, select an exclusive representative, and collectively bargain with the Sheriff and the Calvert County Commissioners (through the County Administrator) over wages and employee health‑care premium share (to the extent those premium‑share matters are not regulated by the Sheriff).
Who is covered
- Applies only in Calvert County to full‑time deputy sheriffs and correctional deputies in the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office at the rank of major and below.
Major provisions
- Representation and rights
- Covered employees may join or refrain from joining a labor organization, select an exclusive representative, decertify a representative, and engage in collective bargaining for the specified subjects.
- Certification process for an exclusive representative
- A labor organization is deemed certified if a petition signed by at least 51% of sworn deputy sheriffs “at the rank of sergeant and below” is submitted and the Sheriff does not challenge it within 20 days.
- If the Sheriff challenges the petition’s validity, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) will be asked to appoint a neutral arbitrator to conduct a secret‑ballot election; certification requires a 51% vote. AAA/arbitrator costs are shared equally by the parties.
- Scope and limits of bargaining
- Collective bargaining is limited to wages and employee health‑care premium share not regulated by the Sheriff (the statute frames terms in a Memorandum of Agreement).
- The Sheriff and County Administrator are not required to continue bargaining on matters that require appropriation after the County Commissioners have approved the county’s annual operating budget.
- Agreement requirements
- Agreements must be reduced to a written Memorandum of Agreement, may include a grievance procedure (including nonbinding arbitration), and must be ratified by: (1) a majority of votes cast by the bargaining unit members, (2) the Sheriff, and (3) the County Commissioners.
- Modifications must be written and ratified. Agreement length must be at least 1 year and not exceed 4 years.
- Protections and prohibitions
- The statute expressly provides that a correctional deputy is not authorized to strike under the State Personnel & Pensions Article.
Fiscal and operational effects
- State: no material fiscal effect.
- Local (Calvert County): potential increased personnel costs if negotiated wage/benefit changes require additional funding; any such additional funding is subject to approval by the County Commissioners. Administrative costs associated with arbitration and bargaining processes may arise (some costs shared per statute). The Department of Legislative Services could not reliably quantify the county impact in advance.
Procedural notes
- The Act amends Article — Courts and Judicial Proceedings, §2‑318, adding the new collective‑bargaining procedures specific to Calvert County and clarifying that salaries may be prescribed in a collective bargaining agreement, subject to county funding approval.
