Public Hearing Frequently Asked Questions
Montgomery County residents are very much a part of the Council's decision-making process. Whether the decision is a new law, a master plan, or the budget, Council rules and procedures provide for the consideration of views received at public hearings, by mail, e-mail, by telephone, or in person.
If you wish to testify in person at a public hearing, you must sign up in advance. Sign Up to Testify or call to 240-777-7803. Expand and view each topics in detail below.
If you need accommodation to participate in any Council activity, please contact us as far in advance as possible: 240-777-7900, (MD Relay - Dial 711 or 800-201-7165), Email to County.Council@montgomerycountymd.gov
Language translation service requests should be directed to Sonya Healy at 240-777-7926 or Juan Jovel at 240-777-7931.
- Speakers must sign up in advance.
- Sign Up to Testify at a Council public hearing or call 240-777-7803.
- More information
The Council offers free subscriptions to the weekly mailing of the Council and committee agendas by regular mail or e-mail, and the cable television schedule of broadcasts of Council sessions. To get on the mailing list, call Legislative Information Services (LIS) at (240) 777-7910 or e-mail the Council at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov.
The following documents are available for examination 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the LIS office, Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850. Copies are made for a charge of 10 cents a page. Copies of background papers for many of the items currently before the Council are available free of charge.
Minutes: LIS can provide access to minutes of all Council and Council Committee sessions from 1884 to the present. A computerized index makes it possible to access minutes since 1971 by subject.
Voting Records: For voting records from 2002 click on the Summary of Council Actions . For voting records before 2002, please visit our Legislative Information office at 100 Maryland Avenue, during regular business hours.
Council and Committee Packets: These are the staff papers and background material presented to the Council for each agenda item of Council and Committee sessions. Current packets are available on the website two business days before the meeting. Also, current packets are available for examination and copies are made on request. Free copies are available on the day of the meeting. Packets for previous Council meetings are available on microfilm.
Legislative Bill and Public Hearing Files: For every action item for which there has been a public hearing, there is a file containing staff papers, drafts, correspondence received, amendments, etc. These are available for examination. Older public hearing files are available on microfilm.
Council Agendas and Committee Agendas: There are chronological files of agendas; older editions are available on microfilm.
Incoming Correspondence: With very rare exceptions, all correspondence addressed to the Council or to the Council President is available for public examination. (The law provides that certain documents regarding personnel, land acquisitions, or attorney/client advice may or must be kept confidential.) There is a daily mail log and correspondence may be retrieved by subject, date, or name of correspondent. There are also chronological reading files.
Outgoing Correspondence: Correspondence signed by the Council President is filed chronologically and can be retrieved by subject or correspondent name by using the computerized mail log. Older correspondence is stored on microfilm.
State Legislation:LIS can assist you in obtaining copies and information about State Legislation and General Assembly activities.
The Council's rules and the rules in the County Code and the Maryland Code protect your right to testify and be heard by the Council, even if others in the hearing room disagree with you. They ensure that those attending the hearing may signal their views to the Council as long as they do not interfere with the rights of others to see and hear the proceedings.
You may wear badges or armbands or other articles of clothing that signal your point of view or proclaim your identity as part of a group.
Some spectators place their group's message on standard 8 - 1/2 by 11-inch paper. These may be held up for the Council to see as long as you do not obstruct the vision of others. Larger placards are not permitted. Signs on sticks are banned. They create too much of a hazard of inadvertent injury to others, particularly when a hearing room is crowded.
A speaker representing your group may ask you all to stand for a moment at the end of the testimony so the Council will be aware of how many members attended the meeting. We ask, however, that you do not remain standing during the testimony or during the testimony of others since this is discourteous to those who remain seated and interferes with their ability to see what is going on.
The Council understands that you may want to applaud some speakers. To avoid delaying the testimony of others, we ask that you avoid prolonged applause or cheering. We also ask that you refrain from booing or otherwise interfering with the testimony of others.
For the safety of all those attending, the Fire Marshal does not permit us to exceed the legal capacity of our hearing rooms. Corridors and exits must be kept clear. In the Council Office Building (COB) we provide television monitors in the 2nd floor cafeteria for the convenience of overflow crowds. (Because it is reserved as an emergency egress, we are not permitted to use the COB 3rd floor conference room for overflow seating.) For the safety of all those attending a hearing, whether it is held in the COB or some other location, we are required to defer to the authority of the Fire Marshal. This will mean that access to the hearing room or even the building itself will be closed off when the legal capacity has been reached and when public safety is compromised.
If the building or the hearing room has been closed because of overcrowding, speakers should identify themselves to the Fire Marshals or Council staff at the doors. We will make sure that you can give your testimony as scheduled.
Excerpts from Sec. 2-80, Montgomery County Code:
"Public hearings on pending legislation or the budget are convened for the express purpose of obtaining public participation and comments . . . At all times, order and decorum shall be maintained in keeping with the dignity of the governmental process, and no person or groups shall interfere with this process, and the council shall take all necessary steps required to maintain order."
"No signs, placards, posters or attention devices of any kind or nature shall be carried or placed within the council offices, hearing or conference rooms, nor within any building in which is located the council office or in which the council is meeting or conducting a public hearing. This prohibition shall not apply to armbands, emblems, badges or other articles worn on the personal clothing of individuals; provided . . . [they] are of such a size and nature not to interfere with the vision or hearing of other persons at a meeting nor extend from the body as may cause injury to another. Any person who shall violate the provision above . . . or who shall willfully interrupt or disturb council proceedings, after a warning to desist, may be removed from premises and shall be subject to punishment for a class A violation as set forth in section 1-129 of chapter 1 of the County Code."
BE BRIEF. Three minutes is all you have. Organize your thoughts; make sure you focus on your most important points. If your testimony is longer than three minutes, hit the highlights and leave the full written statement with Councilmembers.
The County Council is a public body, so its activities are governed by strict requirements of the State "sunshine law," which requires open sessions for all meetings with certain prescribed exceptions. The Council generally meets each Tuesday beginning at 9:00 a.m. and in committees on Mondays and Thursdays. Almost all Council sessions are open to the public and are broadcast live and repeated on the County Government cable channel, Montgomery Cable 6. Some committee sessions of special public interest are also broadcast.
The laws strictly define the circumstances when the Council is either required or permitted to go into a "closed session." These include, for example, the discussion of personnel issues such as performance or selection, to discuss the purchase of land by the government, or to receive advice from attorneys.
Major decisions of the Council are governed by the same procedures that apply to legislation: the measure is introduced in public session, a public hearing is advertised and held, there are public Committee and/or Council work sessions, and the final decision is made in a public session.
Persons wishing to speak at any advertised public hearing may Sign Up to testify. Organization representatives and individuals receive three minutes. The Council also encourages written testimony and accepts petitions.
Speakers will not be allowed to cede time to other speakers.
Please provide 15 copies of your testimony and give them to the clerk as soon as you arrive. Speakers should use their allotted time to summarize more extensive written testimony which is submitted for the record.
The Council usually hears from about 30 speakers at an evening public hearing. If there are more speakers than the Council can hear, staff tries to ensure that the Council hears from all points of view. While in-person participation is encouraged, the Council does not make its decisions by counting the number of speakers for and against an issue or the number of people in the hearing room. Councilmembers carefully weigh the evidence that comes to them in person, in writing, and through their own research and the research done by staff. They often study the experience of other jurisdictions and consult with members of the community about the potential impact of a law.
The Council President will call speakers to come to the witness table in groups of five or six. Please remain seated until all the members of your panel have spoken. Councilmembers reserve their questions until all the members of the panel have given their testimony.
Petitions or other written material may be
- Presented to the Clerk at the time of the hearing
- Emailed to County.Council@montgomerycountymd.gov
All written material becomes a part of the public hearing record.
Ex parte communications are communications made to influence a decision-making official off the record and out of the presence of other parties. More information.