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SB 797

Dorchester County - County Property Leases - Notice Exemptions

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Johnny Mautz

Dorchester County may lease county property for five years or less without the three-week public notice, increasing speed and reducing advertising costs.

Hearing 3/25 at 1:00 p.m.
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Bill Summary · SB 797

SB 797 — Dorchester County — County Property Leases — Notice Exemptions

Status: Hearing scheduled March 25, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
Introduced: January 28 / February 21, 2025 (first read Jan 28)
Sponsor: Sen. Mautz
Related/Companion bills: HB 563, HB 646

Purpose / Intent

To allow Dorchester County to enter into short-term leases of county property without complying with the current statutory requirement to publish a public notice once a week for three consecutive weeks. The intent is to reduce administrative delays and advertising costs for routine, short-term leases.

Key provisions

  • Amends Article — Local Government, §10‑312(f) (Maryland Annotated Code).
  • Adds a new exception: Dorchester County may enter into a lease of county property without publishing the statutorily required 3‑week public notice if the lease term is five years or less.
  • Existing law (unchanged except for this local exception) continues to require publication of notice once a week for three successive weeks for other dispositions, grants, or leases, including disclosure of terms and compensation and opportunity for objections.
  • The existing exemption allowing counties to grant easements for public utilities without notice remains in place.
  • Effective date: October 1, 2025 (per bill text).

Who is affected

  • Dorchester County government: administrative process for leasing county-owned property will change for short-term leases (≤5 years).
  • Potential lessees: may obtain leases more quickly because the publication/notice step can be bypassed.
  • General public and interested parties: will have reduced formal public notice and a potentially reduced opportunity to learn about and object to short-term leases that previously would have been published.

Fiscal and operational impact

  • Maryland Department of Legislative Services fiscal note: No State fiscal effect. Local effect — Dorchester County advertising expenditures may decrease beginning FY 2026; estimated ad cost per notice ≈ $200. Overall impact is expected to be minimal. County revenues are not directly affected.
  • The county reports the change could allow certain properties to be leased more quickly by removing the three‑week publishing requirement.

Legislative timeline / procedural status (selected)

  • Introduced and first read: Jan 28, 2025.
  • Referred to Judicial Proceedings; reported favorably.
  • Read second time / further committee referrals in Feb–Mar 2025.
  • Hearing scheduled March 25, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
  • Effective if enacted: October 1, 2025.

Considerations

  • Tradeoff between administrative efficiency/cost savings and reduced public notice and transparency for short-term county leases.
  • The change is local to Dorchester County and does not alter statewide notice requirements for other counties.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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