Glass bill would add screening for DHS agents looking to join MoCo police
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Ceoli JacobyApril 27, 2026 5:11 p.m.
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Contribute TodayMontgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large) on Tuesday plans to introduce a bill to add a layer of screening for Montgomery County Department of Police applicants who may have conducted immigration enforcement for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since Jan. 21, 2025.
Final votes on two other pending immigration bills and a review of proposed fiscal year 2027 pay increases for county employees are also on the council’s agenda this week.
The council will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville for its regular weekly business meeting. Here’s what to expect:
Continued Excellence in Public Service Act introduction
Glass on Tuesday is planning to introduce his proposed Continued Excellence in Public Service Act — a bill to add a layer of screening for county police officer applicants who have played a role in recent federal immigration enforcement efforts.
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Under the bill, the county police department would need to determine whether a job applicant served as a federal law enforcement officer for DHS or any of its component agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The police department would be required to collect additional background information about applicants who worked for DHS or one of its component agencies in a role that involved immigration enforcement beginning on or after Jan. 21, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s first full day in office.
The required background information for those candidates would include “comprehensive information related to the applicant’s performance and conduct” such as the dates and locations of their assignments, use-of-force incidents to which they were connected and any complaints filed against them, according to the bill.
The police department would also need to obtain an affidavit on a form approved by the Office of the County Attorney stating that the applicant “has never intentionally violated an individual’s constitutional rights” while enforcing immigration law on or after Jan. 21, 2025.
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Glass, along with Councilmembers Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1), is seeking the Democratic nomination for county executive in the June 23 primary election. Other candidates in the race are Democrats Peter James and Mithun Banerjee as well as Republicans Esther Wells and Shelly Skolnick.
Glass briefly spoke about his proposed Continued Excellence in Public Service Act during a forum for county executive candidates in Olney last week, saying the bill will “make sure public safety remains safe in Montgomery County.”
A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for June 9, according to Tuesday’s meeting agenda.
County Council to review proposed employee raises for fiscal year 2027
On Tuesday morning, the council plans to review the proposed pay increases for county employees that are part of County Executive Marc Elrich’s $8 billion county spending plan for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1.
County-funded agencies requested a combined $4.9 billion for tax-supported compensation and benefit costs in fiscal year 2027, according to a council staff report. That represents a
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4.5% increase from fiscal year 2026 compensation and benefit costs.
The cost increase largely results from collective bargaining between the county government and the unions representing various employee groups.
Under Elrich’s budget proposal, non-uniformed county government employees represented by UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO would receive a 2.85% general wage increase in fiscal year 2027. The same goes for deputy sheriffs and correctional officers who are members of MCGEO.
Career firefighters represented by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664 would receive a 2.5% increase under Elrich’s proposal. Officers represented by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 would receive a 3% increase.
As part of her alternative budget proposal, council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) is calling for a uniform general wage increase of 2% across agencies including Montgomery County Public Schools(MCPS), Montgomery College and county divisions and departments.
The county’s employee unions have objected to that approach and are urging the council to honor the contracts they negotiated with the executive branch.
The council does not expect to vote on the proposed compensation increases Tuesday. Instead, the council plans to vote to give itself additional time to review the union contracts, extending the deadline for approval from Friday to May 4.
Final votes expected on two other immigration bills
On Tuesday afternoon, the council is expected to take final votes on two other immigration-related bills.
The Vehicle Recovery Act, sponsored by Councilmember Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4), would enable family members of those detained by ICE to recover their vehicles from tow lots using commonly accepted forms of photo identification and documents demonstrating a relationship to the vehicle’s owner.
The Unmask ICE Act, sponsored by Jawando, would prevent law enforcement officers from wearing masks while on duty in the county in most cases.
Both the Vehicle Recovery and Unmask ICE Acts advanced out of committee with favorable reports earlier this month. Speakers at public hearings for both bills were overwhelmingly supportive, with some calling on the council to “do more” on the issue of immigration.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine