Six Baltimore County councilmen aim to convince County Executive Kathy Klausmeier to quickly reappoint Inspector General Kelly Madigan, two days after she was advised she might be out of her job.

Council Chair Mike Ertel of Towson; fellow Democrats Izzy Patoka and Pat Young; and Republicans Todd Crandell, David Marks and Wade Kach expressed surprise and disappointment that Klausmeier declined to reappoint Madigan

A former prosecutor, Madigan was the county’s first inspector general, following a campaign promise by former County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. to make government more accountable and transparent.

“The county obviously has a checkered past,” said Kach, of northern Baltimore County. “Kelly has helped restore faith in government. I’m going to fight for her, and the majority of the council will fight for her as well.”

Kach was referring to the legacy of Spiro Agnew, who resigned as vice president of the United States after pleading no contest to tax evasion — a charge stemming from bribes he took while Baltimore County executive from 1962 to 1966.

Dale Anderson followed him in the office and also ended up in prison for tax evasion and conspiracy. More recently, Christopher McCollum, the former director of the Baltimore County Agricultural Center, pleaded guilty to felony theft and perjury charges.

Julian Jones, a Democrat on the County Council, was at a funeral and unavailable to comment.

The councilmen are reacting to news that Madigan was notified by Klausmeier’s office that she wouldn’t be reappointed and that the inspector general’s job had been posted.

Klausmeier’s staff said she is following her interpretation of the statute and the decision is about protocol and not Madigan’s performance.

“County Executive Klausmeier is following Baltimore County Code, will conduct an open search process, and encourages the Inspector General to apply for a second term in this critical role,” a county spokesperson said.

Marks said he plans to introduce “clarifying” legislation to say that the county executive does not have to conduct an open search and can reappoint Madigan. That could happen as early as next week.

Madigan — and several other attorneys — have noted the statute is clear. It says the county executive can reappoint the current job holder without an open search.

Klausmeier, a former state senator, has sole discretion to fill the inspector general position.

But, Ertel said, that doesn’t mean the council can’t express disappointment with the decision and introduce clarifying language that may make her staff feel more comfortable reappointing Madigan.

Madigan has served four years and has been a holdover in the position since January, when Klausmeier was appointed county executive to fill out the remainder of Olszewski’s term after he was elected to Congress.

Madigan expected to be reappointed for a full five-year term. Instead, following a routine meeting Monday with Klausmeier, the county executive’ staff handed her a letter saying they were conducting an open search for the position.

Madigan said she was shocked.

So were the six councilmen, who demonstrated support for both Madigan and her office when Olszewski and Jones tried to weaken her oversight powers in 2021 after she investigated high-level members of Olszewski’s administration.

“The OIG has been embattled since its creation,” Young said. “It has faced pushback, scrutiny, attempts to limit its authority and independence, often for doing exactly what it was designed to do.”

The public outcry, in the end, drove more resources to Madigan’s office and led to a ballot amendment to enshrine the office in the county charter, which passed overwhelmingly.

Adding to the confusion is the job posting itself, which appeared Wednesday on the Baltimore County jobs website with a closing day of Thursday. The ad said it had been up for two weeks, meaning it went live long before county staff told Madigan.

On Wednesday, Madigan was feverishly gathering her writing samples, drafting a cover letter and collecting the highlights of her investigations so she would not miss the deadline.

The county later posted a new job description with a closing date of June 4 and said the first one was an error. A spokeswoman could not explain why the posting said it had been up for two weeks, but said it went up Wednesday.

Madigan said she was “humbled and honored at the outpouring of support for her office.”

In addition to several councilmen, she said she’s gotten calls and emails from members of the public, former colleagues and others in government who admire her work.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Maryland chapter named her “fraud fighter of the year” just last month. Her office has completed more than two dozen reports outlining waste and fraud in the county. The targets of her investigations ranged from low-level employees paving their own driveways or visiting ill relatives on work hours to high-level public officials.

Just this week, she issued a report that is part of a $200 billion joint fraud investigation with the Small Business Administration, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Madigan’s investigators recently determined that a county corrections officer defrauded the federal government of more than $41,663; he filled out applications for loans for a nonexistent towing business, then bought trucks, sent them to Nigeria and pocketed the proceeds.

Two of Madigan’s investigations featured Jones; he committed $69,000 in county resources to pave an alley in Towson, outside his district, which the county would not have done otherwise. Another Madigan report chastised Jones for including a campaign donation link in his official government email.

“I love the job,” Madigan said. “Of course I want to stay and finish it out. I want to give Baltimore County four more years of my hard work.”