222 [80 Op. Att’y

MUNICIPALITIES

VALIDLY ADOPTED AMENDMENTS TO CHARTER ARE EFFECTIVE

DESPITEOMISSION FROM COMPILED VERSION OF CHARTER

July 10, 1995

David R. Podolsky, Esquire

Counsel for Chevy Chase Village

On behalf of Chevy Chase Village, you have requested our

opinion on the correct wording of the Village’s charter. In your

letter, you pointed out that only two of nine amendments that were

purportedly adopted by the Village governing body in 1965 are

reflected in the version of the charter published by the State

Department of Legislative Reference. 

Based on our examination of copies of the relevant

contemporaneous records and documents, we conclude that these

amendments were adopted in accordance with the then-applicable

law. Therefore, the document published by the Department should

be revised to reflect the adoption of the 1965 amendments. 

I

Background

A. Municipal Charters and Charter Amendment

Prior to the adoption in 1954 of the Municipal Home Rule

Article, Article XI-E of the Maryland Constitution, the General

Assembly enacted charters for the various municipal corporations.

See Article III, §48 of the Constitution. By virtue of the Home Rule

Article, municipal corporations may adopt and amend their own

charters in accordance with procedures prescribed by public general

law. Article XI-E, §§3 and 4. 

At the time that the amendments in question were approved,

the public general law of the State provided that an amendment to a
Gen. 222] 223

1

 A 1965 publication entitled Chevy Chase Village, Maryland )

History, Ordinances and Regulations, Charter shows no substantive

change in these provisions. 

 municipal charter could be initiated by the legislative body or by

petition of the voters. Article 23A, §§13(a) and 14(a) of the

Maryland Code (1964 Supp.). As initiated by the legislative body,

an amendment was to be embodied in a resolution and passed in the

usual way by a majority vote of the elected members. §13(a). Such

an amendment would take effect on the fiftieth day following its

adoption, unless a petition calling for a referendum was filed within

forty days. §13(f). Within the forty day period, a fair summary of

the amendment was to be published in a newspaper of general

circulation once a week for at least four weeks. §13(e). 

However, such an amendment could not become effective until

it was registered with the Secretary of State and the Department of

Legislative Reference. The following information was to be sent by

registered mail for registration with the Department: the text of the

amendment; the date of the referendum, if any; the number of votes

cast for and against the amendment, whether in the legislative body

or in a referendum; and the effective date. §17(f) and (g). 

B. The Charter of Chevy Chase Village

Prior to the adoption of the Municipal Home Rule Article, the

General Assembly enacted a revised charter for Chevy Chase

Village. Chapter 251, Laws of Maryland 1951. In relevant part, this

charter provided for an elected governing body of seven members,

to be known as the Board of Managers. Among the officers of the

Board, to be elected from among its members, was a Secretary,

whose duties included keeping minutes of all meetings of the Board.

§77(122-4)(a) and (b).1 Although the original copy of the minutes

of the Board for 1965 has not been located, a microfilm copy is in

the custody of the Maryland State Archives. 

II

The 1965 Charter Amendments

The Board minutes for January 11, 1965, describe the approval

of seven separate motions to amend the charter. These minutes,
224 [80 Op. Att’y

2

 In your letter, you describe these as “nine amendments.” Our

review indicates that only seven amendments were actually approved.

The discrepancy between the seven amendments, as noted in the minutes

and contained in the text, and nine amendments, as summarized in the

published statement, resulted from the description of a motion amending

Section 78, concerning the election and oath of the Board, as two

amendments, and of a motion amending §§79 and 86A, concerning the

village police and the authority of the village and State Police, as two

amendments. 

3

 On April 5, 1965, these minutes were approved with the deletion

of a reference to “regulations” in the item referring to the adoption of the

amendments to what was called the “Village Act” ) that is, the charter as

enacted by the General Assembly.

4

 In his brief remarks, Mr. Lambert failed to mention an

amendment that increased the Board’s emergency borrowing powers from

$10,000 to $20,000. However, he referred to a previously adopted

amendment altering the village’s boundaries.

which were approved at a subsequent Board meeting, do not

describe the substance of the amendments. Although the minutes

make reference to attached copies, the microfilm does not have such

copies. However, the microfilm record includes a copy of a letter

dated January 21, 1965, from George M. Ferris, Chairman of the

Board, to the residents, and a statement summarizing nine

amendments that would take effect on March 3, 1965, unless a

petition for a referendum were filed. The statement, which Mr.

Ferris included with his letter, was published in the Bethesda-Chevy

Chase Tribune on January 22 and 29 and February 5 and 12,

microfilm copies of which are at the Rockville Branch of the

Montgomery County Library. 

These summaries can reasonably be said to describe accurately

the text of the amendments that you enclosed and that you state were

found among the official records of the village.

2

 The minutes of the

Board for March 8, 1965, state that no referendum petitions had been

filed and that the amendments took effect March 3, 1965.3

At the village’s annual meeting on April 19, 1965, Arthur G.

Lambert, the village’s counsel, briefly described all but one of the

amendments that had recently been adopted.4See Transcript of 51st

Annual Meeting of Chevy Chase Village at 28-31 (microfilm copy

in the Maryland State Archives). By registered letters of August 14,
Gen. 222] 225

1965, to the Secretary of State and the Department of Legislative

Reference, copies of which you provided, Mr. Ferris enclosed the

text of the revised charter and advised that the Board’s vote had been

unanimous, with all seven members present. By letters dated August

18, 1965, copies of which you also provided, Assistant Secretary of

State C. F. Tucker and Dr. Carl N. Everstine, Director of the

Department of Legislative Reference, acknowledged the receipt of

the revised text. 

In short, our examination of the officially held copies of the

relevant records and documents has convinced us that what you have

described as nine amendments were lawfully adopted in January

1965, in accordance with the applicable law at that time. 

III

Effect of Charter Compilations

In 1983, the General Assembly “legalized” the 1983

compilation of municipal charters prepared by the Department of

Legislative Reference. Moreover, this enactment declared the

compilation and the supplements to be “evidence of the Charters of

Maryland municipal corporations in effect at the time of

compilation.” Chapter 77, Laws of Maryland 1983. 

However, an enactment that legalizes a code and makes it

evidence of the law does not preclude inquiry as to the correctness

of the codification. Brenner v. Plitt, 182 Md. 348, 360-361, 34 A.2d

353 (1943); Welsh v. Kuntz, 196 Md. 86, 96-97, 75 A.2d 343 (1950).

See also Nordheimer v. Montgomery County, 307 Md. 85, 94 n. 6,

512 A.2d 379 (1986). 

In our view, the same principle applies to the compilation of

municipal charters. Accordingly, the 1983 enactment that legalized

the Chevy Chase Village Charter, as published by the Department,

made the compilation evidence of this charter; it did not preclude an

inquiry concerning what amendments were lawfully adopted by the

Board of Managers. To the extent that the amendments adopted in

1965 are not reflected in the charter published by the Department,

the published charter should be revised to reflect these amendments,

subject to any subsequent revisions. 
226 [80 Op. Att’y

IV

Conclusion

In summary, it is our opinion that certain 1965 amendments to

the Charter of Chevy Chase Village are valid and currently in effect.

J. Joseph Curran, Jr.

Attorney General

Richard E. Israel

Assistant Attorney General

Jack Schwartz

Chief Counsel

 Opinions & Advice