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Montgomery Council Committee to Receive Update on State’s New Towing Law on Thursday, Jan. 24

Release ID: 13-018
Release Date: 1/23/2013
Contact: Neil Greenberger 240-777-7939 or Delphine Harriston240-777-7931
From: Council Office

ROCKVILLE, Md., January 23, 2016—The Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 24, will receive an update from the County’s Office of Consumer Protection that will include a report on how implementation of the State’s new towing law is impacting Montgomery County.

The Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Phil Andrews and includes Councilmembers Roger Berliner and Marc Elrich, will meet in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be streamed through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

Eric Friedman, the director of the Office of Consumer Protection, will brief the committee on a number of issues that have generated prominent interest from residents and businesses. The new Maryland law on towing became effective on Oct. 1, but since the County already has a comprehensive towing law in place, it was anticipated that the new state law would cause some confusion over which set of laws applied.

The conflicted laws have already generated a lawsuit filed by a towing firm against the State and the County. The County is currently seeking permission from the State to allow County towing laws apply in Montgomery rather than the new State towing laws.

The Office of Consumer Protection also will report on unlicensed car sales that continue to be a concern in the County.

The committee will receive updates from the Police Department and the Department of Correction of Rehabilitation on how they will be impacted by recent increases in staffing.

Over the previous five years, difficult economic conditions led to budget reductions that decreased Correction and Rehabilitation staff by 11 percent. In Fiscal Year 2013, four fulltime staff members were added. The Police Department in FY13 was able to have two police officer candidate training classes of 30 members each.

The Commission on Juvenile Justice also will have a worksession with the committee to detail its activities over the past year.

Part of the commission’s report will focus on the Teen Court program that offers teenage offenders a second chance to learn from their mistakes without the high cost of having a criminal record.

In Teen Court, volunteer teens perform the roles of the prosecuting and defense attorneys, bailiff, clerk and jury. There is a jury of teens who listen to the cases, which usually involve crimes such as theft, vandalism, possession of alcohol or assault. The jury determines a disposition, based on sentencing guidelines. The offender has the chance to complete the disposition within 60 days and have the original charge dismissed.

Teen Court is held twice a month in the Circuit Court building.

The Department of Juvenile Services will issue a report on its past year of activities, including its future goal to develop alternatives to detention for certain juvenile offenders.

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Last edited: 12/23/2009