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Budget Year / Version:
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Program Description

  Litigation

Through this program, OCA represents the County (and other members of the Self-Insurance Fund) before all courts and administrative agencies in which claims for relief are sought in connection with alleged wrong-doing by members of the Self-Insurance Fund and their employees. The Litigation program also provides the County with legal representation in State and Federal courts in connection with legal actions brought by the County to enforce County law. For FY24, all attorneys and staff in this program are fully charged to the Self-Insurance Fund (SIF).

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Program Contacts

Contact Carolyn Kilgariff of the Office of the County Attorney at 240.777.6766 or Eva Acevedo of the Office of Management and Budget at 240.777.2763 for more information regarding this department's operating budget.

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Program Performance Measures

Program Performance MeasuresActual FY21Actual FY22Estimated FY23Target FY24Target FY25
Number of workers' compensation hearings1,7171,9561,7951,7951,795
Code citations processed 13,3744,9275,1255,1255,125
Total prayer amount demanded by plaintiff (Self-Insurance Fund only) ($000) 2$188,912$128,419$250,000$250,000$250,000
Total number of settlements (Self-Insurance Fund only)1822232323
Total judgment amount paid to plaintiff by the County (Self-Insurance Fund only) ($000)$41.91$47.46$37.45$37.45$37.45
Percent of wins in Self-Insurance Fund litigation 3100%100%100%100%100%
Number of judgments in the County's favor (Self-Insurance Fund only)3429353535
Number of judgments against the County (Self-Insurance Fund only) 414222
Ratio of debt collected to amount referred to the department for collection 551.0%71.6%80.0%80.0%80.0%
Ratio of cost of debt collection to revenue10%5%7%7%7%
Code enforcement collected ($000) 6$392$491$440$440$440
Ratio of wins to total code enforcement cases97.6%99.8%99.0%99.0%99.0%
Debt collection ($000)$5,346$11,076$7,945$7,945$7,945
Forfeitures collected ($000) 7$552.5$34.7$297.0$297.0$297.0
Total net gain to the County in worker's compensation cases ($000) 8$5,656$5,737$5,007$5,007$5,007
1  Due to pandemic, the District Court still has a lot of backlogs.
2  Amount prayed is the amount sought by the plaintiff at the start of the lawsuit.
3  "Win" includes verdicts in favor of the plaintiff where the County pays a judgment below last demands.
4  All four judgments paid in FY22 were below last demand, which is still in the County's favor.
5  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mailing of debt collection letters was paused and the court was temporarily closed.
6  Due to pandemic, the District Court stopped processing code enforcement cases until October 2020 and the Court experienced resulting backlogs.
7  The lower number in FY22 is due to the court closure and backlog from COVID-19: both the delay in filing them due to the court closure for the corresponding criminal cases and the delay in getting them set in for hearings.
8  The Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission issues awards on the nature and extent of an employee's job related injuries. Independent medical evaluations are performed by the injured worker's physician and the employer/insurer's physician. The Commission's award is typically a number between the employee's and employer/insurer's evaluation. If the amount the Commission determines that the County must pay is below the average of the two evaluations, that is considered a net gain to the County.
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Program Budget Changes

FY24 Approved ChangesExpendituresFTEs
FY23 Approved00.00
FY24 Approved00.00