Nine residents have been nominated to Montgomery County’s new Police Accountability Board (PAB).
County Executive Marc Elrich released the names of the nine nominees Wednesday. The county received more than 60 applicants, he said.
The council must confirm nominations. They are: Bishop Paul Walker (Chair), Alicia Hudson, Kenneth Kellner, George Lluberes, Rudy Logan, Katharine Manning, Alvin McCray, Thomas Williams Jr. and Christopher Zatratz.
“We believe these individuals will bring increased accountability and transparency that’ll improve our police department and public safety in Montgomery County,” Elrich said during a media briefing Wednesday.
The county council passed a bill in April to establish the board after a House bill was approved by the Maryland General Assembly to create a “new uniform procedure for police accountability and discipline,” per a county release. It includes creating a PAB and Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) in each county. The PAB and ACC will handle complaints filed by the public alleging police misconduct from a county or municipal police officer, according to a council release.
According to Council Bill 49-21, each PAB member must have experience in managing/evaluating management of a law enforcement agency, evaluating citizen complaints against police, or in personnel disciplinary proceedings. Each member must “demonstrate through professional or lived experience the ability to balance effective oversight, perform objective analysis of an investigation report, and practice procedural fairness,” per the bill.
An active police officer cannot serve on the PAB and members are required to be county residents.
Members will receive an annual salary of $10,000, except for the board chair who will also serve on the ACC, whose members also receive salaries. PAB and ACC members serve a three-year term and are limited to two terms.
