[HISTORY: Adopted by the County Council of Talbot County as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Enforcement of Code — See Ch. 58.
[Adopted 1-12-2021 by Bill No. 1467]
The ordinances of Talbot County of a general and permanent nature, adopted by the County Council of Talbot County, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections and consisting of Chapters 1 through 190, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Talbot County Code," hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code."
This ordinance and the Code shall supersede all other general and permanent ordinances enacted prior to the enactment of this Code which are inconsistent with the ordinances included in the Code.
All provisions of this ordinance shall become effective (sixty) 60 calendar days after adoption.
A copy of the Code in loose-leaf or post binder form has been filed in the office of the County Manager and shall remain there for use and examination by the public until final action is taken on this ordinance, and if this ordinance shall be adopted, such copy shall be certified to by the Secretary of Talbot County by impressing thereon the Seal of the County, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the County Manager, to be made available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while the Code is in effect.
Any and all additions, amendments or supplements to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as to indicate the intent of the County Council to make them a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that reference to the "Talbot County Code" shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments. Whenever such additions, amendments or supplements to the Code shall be adopted, they shall thereafter be published as amendments and supplements thereto.
The County Manager of Talbot County, pursuant to law, shall cause to be published, in the manner required, a notice of the passage of this ordinance in a newspaper of general circulation in the County. Sufficient copies of the Code shall be maintained in the office of the County Manager for inspection by the public at all times during regular office hours. Publication of such notice, coupled with availability of copies of the Code for inspection by the public, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
It shall be the duty of the County Secretary, or someone authorized and directed by the Secretary, to keep up-to-date the certified copy of the Code required to be filed in the County Manager's office for the use of the public. All changes in said Code and all ordinances adopted subsequent to the effective date of this codification which shall be adopted specifically as part of the Code shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such changes or new ordinances are published as supplements thereto.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly change or amend, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of the Code or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the law of Talbot County to be misrepresented thereby. Any violation of this section shall be punishable as a misdemeanor, the penalty for which shall be a fine not to exceed $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.
Each section of the Code and every part of each section is an independent section or part of a section, and the holding of any section or a part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section or parts thereof.
A. 
In compiling and preparing the ordinances for adoption and revision as part of the Code, certain grammatical changes and other minor changes were made in one or more of said ordinances. It is the intention of the County Council that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances so changed had been previously formally amended to read as such.
B. 
In addition, the following changes, amendments or revisions are made herewith, to become effective upon the effective date of this ordinance as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof. (Chapter and section number references are to the ordinances as they have been renumbered and appear in the Code.)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: In accordance with § 1-10B, the chapters, parts and sections which were added, amended, adopted or deleted by this bill are indicated throughout the Code by a footnote referring to Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I. During routine supplementation, footnotes indicating amendments, additions or deletions will be replaced with the following history: "Amended (added, deleted) 1-12-2021 by Ord. No. 1467." Schedule A, which contains a complete description of all changes, is on file in the County offices.
[Adopted 1-12-2010 by Bill No. 1177]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACT
The adoption, repeal, repeal and reenactment, or the revision, amendment, or consolidation of any section or part of a section of the Code by legislative action of the County Council, or public local law enacted by the General Assembly applicable only to Talbot County, or by any final action of the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays approving any proposed amendment or refinement of the Talbot County Critical Area Program.
CODE
The Talbot County Code or any part or section thereof, or any public local law enacted by the General Assembly applicable only to Talbot County.
COUNTY
Talbot County, Maryland, acting through its authorized agents and employees.
ENFORCEMENT ACTION
Any suit, action, demand, monetary penalty, abatement order, or other administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding brought by the County to enforce the Code.
SANCTION(S)
All penalties, forfeitures, liabilities, orders, or remedies, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, established by the Code and all decisions, judgments, decrees, convictions, or penalties, issued by any administrative agency or court to enforce the same.
If an enforcement action is pending for an existing Code violation when an act is adopted, the enforcement action shall be prosecuted and proceed to final decision, determination, and judgment, including all stages of any appeal, applying the Code in effect as if the act had not been adopted. If no enforcement action is pending for an existing Code violation at the time an act is adopted, the County may, notwithstanding adoption of the act, file and pursue enforcement action(s) against a violator in the same manner and subject to the same sanctions as if the act had not been adopted.
Adoption of an act shall not release, extinguish, alter, modify, or change, in whole or in part, any sanctions for Code violations available to the County which have accrued or been issued, incurred, imposed, or declared under the Code, unless the act shall expressly so provide. Any such Code chapter, section, or part thereof affected by an act shall be treated and held as still remaining in force for the purpose of: imposing any sanctions or filing or pursuing any enforcement action for violations occurring prior to adoption of the act; and reviewing or sustaining any decision, judgment, decree, or order that has been or may be rendered, entered, or made in such enforcement action. Enforcement actions filed after adoption of an act based on violations occurring before adoption of the act shall be prosecuted and proceed to final decision, determination, and judgment, including all stages of any appeal, applying the Code in effect as if the act had not been adopted.