Revisions on a local ordinance to broaden the authority of Carroll County's ethics commission were discussed at a public hearing last night before the county commissioners.

The commission could see its policies more clearly defined and its authority broadened if county officials accept a task force's recommendations and the General Assembly grants the commission subpoena power.

The revisions considered last night would clarify how the ethics panel handles complaints. The draft of proposed changes also calls for annual training on ethics issues for county officials and employees, guidelines on what gifts employees can or cannot accept, specifics on financial disclosure required from county employees and office-holders, and an increase to $1,000 in court-issued fines for violations.

The county commissioners also may ask the legislative delegation to draft a law that would give the three-member ethics commission the power to compel witnesses to testify, a legal authority the commission say it needs.

"I very much support and have been outspoken about the need for this power the entire time I have been on the commission," said the Rev. James F.W. Talley, the ethics commission chairman who has served on the panel since 1996.

Westminster resident Gerald J. Ryan told the commissioners that subpoena power "is too much authority for the commission. If the evidence is substantial and the charges warrant, the commission needs to turn the case over to the county attorney."

Ryan said he would prefer seeing a limit on the commission's authority to issue a cease-and-desist order against any person violating the ordinance. That, too, should be the purview of the county attorney, he said.

Strict overview by the county attorney and the courts would prevent any abuse of the commission's power, Talley said.

The state ethics commission and several counties have subpoena power, but its use is infrequent. The state panel issues subpoenas about a half-dozen times a year, said Robert A. Hahn, general counsel to Maryland's ethics commission.

"We have jealously guarded its use," Hahn said. "It would be used by staff counsel in preparation for a hearing, but most matters are resolved before the hearing stage."

Joseph S. Matricciani has never seen the power used in his eight years as executive director of Baltimore County's ethics commission, he said.

"We have always been able to get the information we need," Matricciani said. "It has not been our experience to threaten. But I can certainly visualize a situation where a subpoena would be useful. As a practical matter, a board should have it. What would you do if someone defied you?"

Talley has said previously that "without it, we are a paper tiger, dependent on the good will of people we call as witnesses."

The commissioners appointed several committees to conduct a complete review of all county ordinances about a year ago. The proposed ethics revisions stemmed from that effort and included input from the ethics commission members and the county attorney.

"The revisions represent the best of the best," Talley said. "They meet the requirements of the state ethics commission and address the problems we have been confronted with over the six years I have been on the commission."

The idea of adding subpoena power arose, Talley said, because the commission has had cases where witnesses have refused to testify.

One recent case involved allegations that Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge's daughter Jill Gebhart used her mother's name as leverage in a dispute with a contractor and that Gouge used her position as county commissioner to help Gebhart establish a business. The ethics commission could not compel Gebhart to testify. No wrongdoing was discovered, and the case was dropped.