By Adam Pagnucco.
I have written before about Carolyn Chen, who once worked for the council’s central staff and left after an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation discovered misconduct. Specifically, the OIG found that a council staffer rented athletic fields from Park and Planning supposedly on behalf of the council, but ultimately the reservations benefited the staffer’s spouse and rental payments were not made. Park and Planning identified the staffer as Chen and sued, and Chen eventually paid up. But another shoe was poised to drop as I reported that the State’s Attorney’s Office had convened a grand jury to look the issue.
It turns out that the State’s Attorney’s Office did more than investigate Chen. On October 3rd, the office filed a criminal information against Chen alleging one count of misconduct in office. According to the initial filing:
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Bryan Roslund, Assistant State’s Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, duly authorized and empowered to investigate and prosecute the above-entitled case in this Court, on his official oath informs the said Court that CAROLYN J. CHEN, an employee of the Montgomery County Council and a public officer, on or about March 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023, in Montgomery County Maryland, did take advantage of her public office to obtain use of public, turf athletic fields for a private entity by falsely representing the fields would be used and paid for by the County Council, the misconduct being committed pursuant to a continuing scheme and course of conduct in violation of the Common Law against the peace, government, and dignity of the State.
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Misconduct in office is a common law misdemeanor with no set maximum penalty. According to a General Assembly legislative fiscal note, it “has been defined as corrupt behavior by a public officer while in the exercise of official duties or while acting under color of law.”
After she was served summons, Chen’s defense attorney requested a speedy trial and filed a six-page request for discovery. As of this writing, trial is set for 3/17/25.
The case number is C-15-CR-24-001167.