BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — With the year over halfway done, we finally have the first report of the year from Baltimore County's Office of the Inspector General.
Baltimore County OIG first report of 2026 raises questions over the office's stability
The long wait leaves some people questioning the stability and future of the office.
This year's OIG report focused on the Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections.
The report states that an employee was promoted without a formal interview, the supervisor was excluded from the process and the interview form contained false information.
While the findings do raise flags for people, most residents, like Councilman Julian Jones, are focused on the time it took for the report to come out – over 7 months into the year.
"I think it's embarrassing, to be quite frank, after 7 months that we would come up with a summary report," Jones told WMAR-2 News. "The selection of an inspector general, the whole office has been so politicized that we don't have anyone that is qualified to produce a report."
Councilman David Marks begged to differ.
"Even though we've had a vacancy in the inspector general's office, the office itself can issue reports," Marks said. "Democrats, Republicans and Independents all alike agree we need a strong and robust inspector general."
The position in the county has been vacant since Kelly Madigan left the office after County Executive Kathy Klausmeier tried to replace her.
Deputy Inspector General and Chief of Investigations Gregg Domroe has been handling operations.
Mark agreed with Jones in that the role of Inspector General has been too politicized, but he told WMAR-2 News that voters can help with that.
"Vote for question C; that's going to improve the process. We're going to have a non-political, independent inspector general, and that office is going to be issuing the type of reports that our constituents deserve."
Regarding the office's report, the PAI agreed that hiring practices must be applied uniformly across all agencies to ensure fairness.
It directed the County Administrative Officer and OHR to provide mandatory training on the hiring procedures for PAI human resources staff and PAI managers involved in hiring; review the Baltimore County Personnel Manual to determine whether revisions are needed to clarify eligibility of probationary employees for internal promotions; and develop an internal FAQ addressing hiring and promotion procedures by the end of October.
The OIG's office will monitor the administration's progress on these actions.
