I. COUNTIES

NOTE; The county officials are here divided into two groups,
Judicial and Administrative. The administrative officials are listed
according to the following functions: executive and legislative; fis-
cal; election; public safety; health, education, and welfare; plan-
ning, building, and inspection, if any; licensing; liquor control; and
extension and soil conservation service.

Many counties have begun to outgrow the traditional county offices,
and two counties, Montgomery (in 1948) and Baltimore (in 1966),
have adopted charter governments with special departments and
officers that perform functions formerly centered in the Board of
County Commissioners. Even in these two counties, however, most
of the traditional offices remain, and though many of them are not
regulated by charter, they work side by side with the new depart-
ments. For this reason we have listed the officers of Montgomery
and Baltimore counties, like those of other counties, according to
function rather than according to the legal or administrative rela-
tionships their charters have created.

Methods of appointment and terms of office of the officials common
to most of the counties are explained below. Such information about
officers peculiar to any one county is given in footnotes. Unless
otherwise indicated, all officers may be addressed at their respective
county seats.

METHODS OF APPOINTMENT
JUDICIAL OFFICERS

Resident Judge: Elected by the voters of the Judicial Circuits for

a fifteen-year term.
Clerk of the Circuit Courts: Elected by the voters of the county for

a four-year term.
State's Attorney: Elected by the voters of the county for four-year

a term.

Sheriff: Elected by the voters of the county for a four-year term.
Register of Wills: Elected by the voters of the county for four-year

a term.
Judges, Orphans' Court: Elected by the voters of the county for

a four-year term.

Trial Magistrates: Appointed by the Governor with the consent of
the Senate for two-year terms.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS

Board of County Commissioners: Elected by the voters of the county

for four-year terms.

Clerk to the County Commissioners: Appointed by the Board of
County Commissioners, except in Montgomery County, where he
is appointed by the County Manager with the consent of the
County Council.

Attorney to the County Commissioners: Appointed by the Board of
County Commissioners, except in Baltimore County, where, as
Solicitor, he heads Office of Law and is appointed by the County
Administrator with the consent of the County Executive; and
Montgomery County, where he is appointed by the County
Council.

Treasurer: Elected by the voters of the County for a four-year term.