County Attorney

WESTMINSTER - The Carroll Board of County Commissioners announced this month that Tim Burke has been appointed to the position of County Attorney. Burke has been serving in an acting capacity since April, following the resignation of Kimberly Millender. Burke was hired in 1996 as an assistant county attorney to provide legal advice to allied agencies, boards and commissions, and to represent the county in state and appellate courts. Burke received his bachelor's degree from the University of Scranton and his Juris Doctor from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law. He has been a practicing attorney for 23 years.

Joseph E. Emerson, a lawyer who was the former deputy county attorney for Frederick County, died Wednesday from cancer at his Frederick home. He was 77. The son of Capt. Alexander L. Emerson, who was known as the "man with the maul" as head of the Baltimore Police Department's old vice squad, and Loretta Beavin Emerson, a homemaker, Joseph Edward Emerson was born in Baltimore and raised in the 4100 block of Edmondson Ave. He attended St. Charles College in Catonsville, and what is now Loyola University Maryland, and studied for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary & University from 1957 to 1962.

Former two-term County Councilman Phillip F. Scheibe was named yesterday as the new county attorney.Mr. Scheibe was the county attorney from 1967 to 1969.He served on the council from 1965 to 1966, and from 1970 to 1974.It was that combination of experience that led him to make the appointment, County Executive John G. Gary said yesterday."We've got a brand new council," Mr. Gary said."I think he has the . . . knowledge that we'll need to get through comprehensive rezoning."The county reviews its zoning map every 10 years.

Despite a warning from the county attorney that the move was premature, the Anne Arundel County Council pressed ahead Wednesday with a plan to remove County Executive John R. Leopold from office for criminal misconduct. Some voters, meanwhile, said it was time for the two-term executive to go, after he was found guilty of using county employees to perform political and personal errands. "He looks like a jackass," said Michelle Cook, dining with friends at Chick and Ruth's Delly in downtown Annapolis.

Phillip F. Scheibe, a longtime political insider who has served as Anne Arundel's county attorney in three administrations, will resign tomorrow, sources said.Scheibe, a close confidant of former County Executive John G. Gary, was viewed as an outsider in the new administration and was asked to leave office, several knowledgeable county officials said yesterday.His resignation was supposed to be kept closely guarded, but Scheibe's failure to appear to defend the Office of Law's budget before the County Council yesterday signaled his impending departure to those who did not already know.

The county attorney's office is understaffed and spends considerably more money processing certain cases than it receives in return, revealed an internal audit.The audit recommended that the legal staff be increased by two attorneys, in addition to the new attorney already approved this budget year, and that the office change several procedures to reduce wasteful spending.In interviews with the four attorneys -- one county attorney and three assistants -- the County Bureau of Internal Audit found "there was a strong indication that there was inadequate time to perform job assignments properly."

In a move that drew praise from lawyers but heat from blacks anxious for minority appointments, a former Baltimore County school board president was named yesterday to the $70,304-a-year post of Baltimore County attorney.H. Emslie "Lee" Parks was appointed by Republican County Executive Roger B. Hayden, who served with Mr. Parks on the school board in the 1970s.Mr. Parks, 60, replaces Arnold Jablon, a former schoolteacher and zoning commissioner who was appointed county attorney in 1987 by former Democratic County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen.

The Carroll County Attorney's Office is being honored by a national organization for developing training programs that teach social workers and staff of the local Department of Social Services to be effective witnesses in child abuse and neglect cases. The National Association of Counties (NACo), a Washington-based organization that represents nearly 2,000 county governments in the United States, has recognized the county attorney's efforts to help protect children. NACo will bestow an award on the county attorney's office during the organization's annual conference in Philadelphia on July 15. In addition to improving caseworkers' testimony, the training programs keep social workers and staff informed about changes in state and federal law. They also encourage better communication with state, federal and local agencies.

Carroll County Attorney Charles W. Thompson Jr. said yesterday that he will leave the job he has held for 16 years to become Montgomery County attorney.Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan announced Mr. Thompson's appointment at a news conference in Rockville. The County Council still must approve the appointment."His name is well respected in state and national legal circles, and he has proven himself to be a top-notch public administrator," Mr. Duncan said about Mr. Thompson in a statement released yesterday.

An article in Friday's editions of The Sun incorrectly identified the party affiliation of Anne Arundel County Councilman Bert Rice. Mr. Rice is a Republican.The Sun regrets the error.Anne Arundel County Council members said yesterday that they don't mind working with new County Attorney Phillip F. Scheibe, who used the same office 25 years ago to make profitable deals on county-owned land.But an expert on legal ethics said Mr. Scheibe's past activities may erode the public's confidence in the integrity of their local government.

Baltimore County's chief attorney is urging the local board of elections to reject petitions gathered last year in a controversial referendum drive that, if successful, could let voters overturn many of the County Council's zoning decisions. In a letter dated Thursday, County Attorney Mike Field told elections board Director Katie Brown that the petition sponsors did not give all the necessary information to voters when gathering signatures. Brown's office is weighing whether to approve the petitions, and place the referendum on the 2014 ballot.

Despite the presence of an overflow crowd offering support, the County council voted to affirm the ouster of health officer Angela S. Wakhweya, the first African-American to hold the job in the history of the county department. After being ousted from her position as Anne Arundel County health officer, Dr. Angela S. Wakhweya maintained in a statement issued Wednesday that she had, "done nothing illegal, nothing unethical, nothing unsafe, nothing immoral and nothing fraudulent. " Nevertheless, a day earlier, at a sometimes emotional meeting that drew a standing-room-only crowd, the Anne Arundel County Council voted to affirm the dismissal of Wakhweya, the first African-American to hold the position in the 81-year history of the county health department.

The boat crash involving an admittedly drunk Del. Donald H. Dwyer has been investigated by a Howard County prosecutor in order to avoid a conflict of interest, officials said Monday. The Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Office referred the case to another jurisdiction more than two months ago, not long after the August crash that seriously injured Dwyer and five other people, including four children. No charges have been filed and the investigation is not complete, officials said.

In a decision that could affect thousands of active and retired Baltimore County employees, a federal judge ruled that the county's pension system discriminates against beneficiaries because older workers were required to pay more toward their retirement than younger workers. U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg sided with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, finding that the county system violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. It is unclear what the financial impact on the county could be because the court has not determined damages in the case.

Deliberate misbehavior by Anne Arundel County employees could leave them on the hook for the county's legal costs under a new bill introduced Monday night. The legislation requires the county attorney to try to recoup from employees whose conduct ultimately put Anne Arundel's government on the losing end of a lawsuit. A second bill introduced Monday night gives the County Council final approval on any out-of-court settlements over $100,000. The bills are reactions to two pending federal lawsuits against the county filed over the conduct of County Executive John R. Leopold, the bills' sponsors said.

Anne Arundel County employees whose deliberate behavior leads to legal settlements or judgments against the county could be ordered to cut a check for the damages under a bill to be introduced Monday before the County Council. One proposal would allow the county attorney to pursue the recovery of damages from an employee in such cases. Another bill to be introduced Monday would allow the council to approve large legal settlements. The bills — sparked by two pending civil lawsuits against County Executive John R. Leopold and the county — have the sponsorship of Jamie Benoit, a Crownsville Democrat, and Jerry Walker, a Gambrills Republican.

Elizabeth B. Entwisle has played some tough gigs before, but no one has suggested until now that it might be a conflict of interest for her to sing in her husband's band and get paid for it.The County Council will decide tonight in a special legislative session whether to give Ms. Entwisle, a county attorney, a waiver to do just that.The Recreation and Parks Department wants the Satyr Hill band, led by Ms. Entwisle's husband Jude Restivo, to be the lead act Sunday afternoon at its Wine in the Woods festival.

All of Baltimore County's assistant county attorneys were asked to sign letters of resignation yesterday, the second full day of Stanley J. Schapiro's tenure in the top job.H. Emslie "Lee" Parks resigned as county attorney on Wednesday, after two years and five months in office.Mr. Schapiro said he is using the letters "as a management tool," and a way of getting a grip on pervasive talk in Towson that some of the 16 remaining assistant county attorneys still have private practices, despite a new county policy forbidding that.

Charles Osborne Fisher, a World War II veteran and prominent Carroll County attorney whose legal career spanned more than six decades, died Friday at his Westminster home from complications of a broken hip. He was 95. "Charles was a real gentleman and an old-time lawyer with modern ideas. He was always steady and consistent," said Herbert S. Garten, a partner in the firm of Fedder and Garten. "He was like an older brother to me and many other lawyers. He was a role model. " The son of a Ford dealer and a homemaker, Mr. Fisher was born in Washington and in 1921 moved to a house on North Court Street, across from the Court House in Westminster, where he lived for the remainder of his life.

Anne Arundel County Council members voted 4-3 Monday night to adopt a resolution expressing no confidence in Police Chief Col. James E. Teare Sr., the latest example of increasing pressure on the chief in the aftermath of the indictment of County Executive John R. Leopold. The resolution declares that the council is concerned about Teare's ability to lead the department because of allegations raised in the indictment. It follows no-confidence votes by two police unions, as well as union ads calling for the county executive and the police chief to leave office until the charges against Leopold are resolved.