The Caroline County Board of Commissioners voted Oct. 7 to authorize a one-year agreement for the county sheriff’s office to provide policing services to the Town of Federalsburg, with the town reimbursing the county for actual, documented costs.

The agreement, presented by Sheriff Baker and discussed at length by commissioners, is structured as an annually renewable contract so the county and town retain exit options without multiyear fiscal commitments. The commissioners and county staff emphasized the town is responsible for direct costs and that the county will account and bill Federalsburg for dollar-for-dollar expenses.

Why it matters: Federalsburg has experienced staffing and financial challenges in operating an independent municipal police department. The one-year MOU shifts operational responsibility to the county sheriff’s office while preserving the town’s obligation to fund the service.

Key details from the meeting:
- Sheriff Baker and staff said the town will pay for overtime, salaries, equipment and other operations; "the town will only reimburse us or be billed for dollar for dollar cost," the sheriff’s office told commissioners.
- The draft budget for the first year was described as approximately $748,000 (reported in discussion as "almost $800,000"); staff said they built buffers into the estimate and that Federalsburg would be billed for actual costs.
- Commissioners pressed for financial and audit assurances from the town. Deputy County Administrator Daniel Fox said Federalsburg has submitted a FY2026 budget but county staff do not have recent audits or detailed budget-to-actual records; Fox said it is difficult to assess long-term fiscal capacity without audit documents.
- Commissioners requested contractual protections and milestones. The agreement includes a 60-day termination clause and staff said they could add preamble language identifying recommended milestones (for example, completing an audit by a date) while preserving the county’s ability to exit.

Votes and motion: Commissioner [motion-maker not specified in the public record] moved to accept the agreement for law-enforcement services among the Caroline County sheriff, the Caroline County commissioners, and the mayor and council of the Town of Federalsburg. The motion was seconded; commissioners voted by voice and the chair announced, "The ayes have it."

Follow up: County finance staff and the sheriff’s office will provide quarterly statements to Federalsburg and will monitor payments; commissioners directed staff to seek written plans and financial milestones from Federalsburg and to maintain accounting safeguards so the county does not subsidize the town’s policing costs.