Law and Government
| Year | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 27.4% 113,041 | 70.6% 291,846 |
| 2008 | 27.1% 118,608 | 71.5% 314,444 |
| 2004 | 32.8% 136,334 | 65.9% 273,936 |
| 2000 | 33.5% 124,580 | 62.5% 232,453 |
| 1996 | 35.2% 117,730 | 59.4% 198,807 |
| 1992 | 33.0% 62,955 | 55.1% 168,691 |
| 1988 | 48.1% 154,191 | 51.5% 165,187 |
| 1984 | 50.1% 146,924 | 49.7%' 146,036 |
| 1980 | 47.2% 125,515 | 39.8%' 105,822 |
Montgomery County was granted a charter form of government in 1948.
The present County Executive/County Council form of government of Montgomery County dates to November 1968 when the voters changed the form of government from a County Commission/County Manager system, as provided in the original 1948 home rule Charter.
The county began with a county commissioner system that kept most of the power in Annapolis. In 1948 voters approved a "Council-Manager" form of government, making Montgomery County the first home-rule county in Maryland. The first six-member council was elected in 1949. Then in 1968, the voters approved a "County Executive-Council" form of government. That change formed an executive branch under the County Executive, and a legislative branch under a seven-member County Council. Instead of a County Manager, there was now a Chief Administrative Officer appointed by the County Executive. That went into effect in 1970, when the first seven-member County Council was elected. Originally all of the council members were elected at large (that is, by all of the voters). Five members were required to reside in their council district. In November 1986, the voters amended the Charter to increase the number of Council seats in the 1990 election from seven to nine. Now five members are elected by the voters of their council district and four are elected at-large. Each voter may vote for five council members; four at-large and one from the district in which they reside.
The Montgomery County Police Department provides county-wide law enforcement services.
Read more about this topic: Montgomery County, Maryland
Famous quotes containing the words law and/or government:
“The law will never make a man free; it is men who have got to make the law free.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The government is huge, stupid, greedy and makes nosy, officious and dangerous intrusions into the smallest corners of life—this much we can stand. But the real problem is that government is boring. We could cure or mitigate the other ills Washington visits on us if we could only bring ourselves to pay attention to Washington itself. But we cannot.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)