Attorney General and DLS flag funding shortfall for state eviction counsel rollout as OAG pushes back on recommended cut

Jacob Polico of the Department of Legislative Services told the Public Safety, Transportation, and Environment Subcommittee that the Office of the Attorney General's fiscal 2025 operating allowance falls $11.5 million (14.8%) to $66.1 million and that the budget omits a mandated special‑fund appropriation for the Access to Counsel and Evictions (ACE) program.

Polico said legal counsel and advice account for the largest single portion of the office's budget (about 23%), with consumer protection and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit following. He described a contingent $700,000 general‑fund reduction tied to proposed Budget Reconciliation Financing Act (BRFAA) language and recommended increasing the budgeted turnover adjustment for the office from 7.49% to 9.5% to better align with vacancy experience, a change DLS estimated would reduce the OAG appropriation by roughly $990,678.

Attorney General (identified in testimony as the office's chief) pushed back on the proposed cut, saying the office's vacancy rate has improved since the December 2023 snapshot DLS used. "Today, our vacancy is 9%, and we are on a really strong, steady glide path to close to 0%," he said while describing active hiring, conversions from contractual pins to regular positions and recent pay increases that he said were improving recruitment.

Both the Attorney General and Lorenzo Bellamy for the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC) warned that the ACE rollout is at financial risk. MLSC told the committee it is seeking restoration of the $14,000,000 annual appropriation mandated in Chapter 40 of 2022 and asked for additional supplemental funds; MLSC estimated the statewide rollout would require more than $25,000,000 in FY25. DLS recommended adoption of committee narrative requesting quarterly reports on ACE implementation to give appropriators ongoing financial and outcome data.

Polico also urged OAG to add metrics tracking IID prosecutions to its annual managing‑for‑results submission now that the division has prosecutorial authority under a 2023 law expanding its investigatory scope. In response, the Attorney General described coordination with local prosecutors and law enforcement partners as generally constructive while acknowledging the "inherent strain" that can come when an independent investigations unit both investigates and prosecutes police‑involved incidents.

Next steps: the subcommittee did not take a vote during the hearing. DLS recommended adoption of turnover language and quarterly reporting language for ACE; OAG and MLSC agreed to provide follow‑up materials and quarterly/annual implementation data for the committee to review.