Talbot County, MD Notice of Claims

This ordinance shall apply both prospectively and retroactively to all proceedings, as defined herein, including all public hearings by a County representative held before passage of this ordinance, except to the extent such application or operation would impair vested rights. It shall also apply to all stages of all pending proceedings, including all stages of any administrative or judicial appeals currently in litigation. For purposes of applying this ordinance, a proceeding is not final, regardless of whether the public hearing has or has not been held, until all administrative and judicial appeals have been exhausted or waived, and the matter has been finally concluded.

Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to modify or amend any requirements established by the Local Government Tort Claims Act, Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article § 5-301 et seq., as amended or modified from time to time. This ordinance shall be construed as consistent with and complementary to all such requirements. Compliance with the requirements of this ordinance shall not operate as a waiver, release, or relinquishment of any defense, right, privilege, or immunity otherwise available to the County or County representative.

§ 94-1 Definitions.

In this article, the following definitions apply:

ACT

Any decision, action, or failure to act by the County to which a claim relates, or arises from, or upon which a claim is based.

COUNTY

Talbot County, Maryland.

COUNTY REPRESENTATIVE

All County boards and commissions, all County officials, department heads, and hearing officers.

PERSON

In addition to an individual, this term includes a general or limited partnership, joint-stock company, unincorporated association or society, municipal or other corporation, incorporated association, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, the state, an agency or political subdivision of the state, and any other governmental entity.

PROCEEDING

A public hearing before a County representative, including any administrative, quasi-judicial or judicial appeal therefrom.

§ 94-2 Applicability.

This article applies to:

(1)

Any claim in any proceeding that any act by a County representative violates or would violate:

(a)

The Constitution of the United States or any federal laws or regulations enacted thereunder;

(b)

The Constitution of the State of Maryland or any State laws or regulations enacted thereunder; or

(c)

The County Charter.

(2)

Any claim in any proceeding that a County ordinance, rule, or regulation, either on its face or as applied, violates or would violate:

(a)

The Constitution of the United States or any federal laws or regulations enacted thereunder;

(b)

The Constitution of the State of Maryland or any State laws or regulations enacted thereunder; or

(c)

The County Charter.

§ 94-3 Necessary party.

Talbot County, Maryland, in its corporate capacity shall be a necessary party in all proceedings to which this article applies.

(1)

All stages. The County shall be entitled to participate as a party represented by the Office of Law in all stages of any proceeding before any County representative involving any claim to which this article applies, including all administrative, quasi-judicial, or judicial reviews or appeals therefrom.

(2)

Joinder and service. A person asserting a claim in a proceeding to which this article applies shall formally name the County as a party in any such proceeding and shall provide written notice and service upon the County in accordance with the requirements of § 94-4 of this article.

§ 94-4 Service of notice required.

Any person asserting a claim in a proceeding to which this article applies shall serve a written "Notice of Claim" upon the County Manager and the County Attorney in accordance with the requirements of this section.

(1)

The Notice of Claim shall be filed in the proceeding and served with any application, petition, appeal or any request for a permit, special exception, variance, approval, or request for other action or relief.

(2)

The Notice of Claim shall be in writing and shall separately state, with particularity:

(a)

The essential elements of the claim;

(b)

The facts on which the claimant relies; and

(c)

Any damages and any other relief requested.

(3)

Talbot County Code § 20-14, as amended, applies to all proceedings before any County representative in which any person asserts a claim to which this article applies. The Notice of Claim required by this § 94-4, shall be served sufficiently in advance of the public hearing to permit timely compliance with the requirements of County Code § 20-14.

(4)

Upon failure to timely comply with the requirements of this § 94-4 and § 20-14, the County representative shall postpone or continue and reschedule the public hearing to permit timely compliance with this section unless such postponement or continuance is affirmatively waived on the record by the Office of Law.

(5)

Any proceeding to which this article applies, but as to which the person asserting a claim has failed to comply with the requirements of this article, shall be void and of no force or effect as to any claim by the person against the County or County representative.

§ 94-5 Exhaustion required.

A person shall exhaust available administrative remedies and assert such claim in compliance with the requirements of this article in all proceedings that the claim relates to or arises from, or upon which the claim is based.

§ 94-6 Word usage.

In this article, unless such construction would be unreasonable, the singular includes the plural and vice versa; the masculine gender includes the feminine and vice versa; the conjunctive shall also be taken in the disjunctive and vice versa; and the use of any tense of any verb shall be considered also to include with its meaning all other tenses of the verb so used. "Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive. "Herein," "hereby," "hereunder," "hereof," "hereinbefore," "hereinafter" and other equivalent words refer to this article and not solely to the particular portion thereof in which any such word is used. Wherever the words "include," "includes," or "including" are used in this article, they shall be deemed to be followed by the words "without limitation." The phrase "relates to," "arises from," "upon which the claim is based," or "to which the claim relates," as used in this article, means: constitute(s), refer(s) to, reflects(s), concern(s), pertain(s) to, or any way logically or factually connect(s) any proceeding, ordinance, rule, regulation, decision, act, or failure to act by the County or a County representative to any claim subject to this article.