High court says Penman cannot serve on Harford Council and work as a deputy

A Harford County council member will leave office weeks sooner than expected, after the state’s highest court ruled Tuesday he cannot simultaneously be on the council while employed as a sheriff’s deputy.

The brief ruling from the Supreme Court of Maryland follows a hearing last week for Republican Council Member Aaron Penman, who has now been removed twice since being sworn in four years ago in an ongoing legal fight over his status..

In a two-page order Tuesday, Chief Justice Matthew J. Fader wrote that the court found “the Harford County Charter bars a deputy sheriff employed by the Harford County Sheriff from simultaneously serving as a Harford County Council member.”

The order removed Penman effective immediately and requires him to pay court costs.

Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly (R), said in a statement that the order “affirmed that Aaron Penman is and has been ineligible for a seat on the Harford County Council due to his simultaneous employment as a sheriff’s deputy, in clear violation of the county charter. Harford, like most Maryland counties, prohibits such dual employment because it creates an obvious conflict of interest for council members charged with oversight of county spending on the sheriffs’ office and other state offices.”

Penman said he was shocked by the order.

“I don’t understand it,” he said.

“The sheriff is a self-elected official. He doesn’t answer to the state. He doesn’t answer to the county executive, as it represents salaries, hiring, firings,” Penman said. “But yet, they somehow lump deputy sheriffs in as state employees — that have really no impact on local legislation.

“They say I cannot serve on the council because I’m a state employee, and a state has no input on the local county council, county budget,” he said. “They’re not saying I’m a county employee. They’re saying I’m a state employee, which makes me ineligible.”

The order does not fully explain how the court reached its conclusion or how Penman’s case differs from an earlier case involving Jacob Bennett, the Harford County Council member and teacher who Cassilly unsuccessfully tried to keep from being seated on the council citing the same county charter provision.

A fuller explanation from the court will come later.

Cassilly, in his statement, said the order also effectively invalidates a series of bills sponsored by Penman that include an expansion of the council’s budget powers and changes to the county charter sections regarding eligibility to serve on the council.

The executive vetoed one of those bills last week. A decision on another was expected by Wednesday. With Penman off the council, it is unlikely there are the required five votes to override a Cassilly veto.

Cassilly, in his statement, said Penman “illegally rushed” the bills through the council, and said the court order removing Penman invalidates the bills.

“Those bills have now been invalidated by the Maryland Supreme Court’s ruling that Penman was not a legitimate member of the Harford County Council when he introduced those bills,” the Cassilly statement said.

A Cassilly spokesperson was not immediately able to clarify Tuesday what the executive’s statements mean for the fate of the bills.

The order reverses an Appellate Court of Maryland ruling that cleared the way for Penman to return to the council in June.

Penman’s time on the council was already coming to an end. Because of the ongoing legal case, he did not seek reelection this year, and would have left office on Dec. 7, when the new council is sworn in.

The order issued Tuesday requires Penman to step down immediately.

The courtroom wrangling grew out of a feud between Harford County Republicans including Cassilly, Sheriff Jeff Gahler and Penman, as well as Council President Patrick Vincenti, who unsuccessfully challenged Cassilly in the 2026 primary. The kerfuffle traces back to a dispute over a funding for a training facility for Gahler’s department.

Four years ago, Cassilly refused to swear in Bennett because he was employed as a middle school science teacher in the county school system. The executive said a county charter provision barred county employees from also holding elected office.

The state’s highest court quickly ruled in Bennett’s favor.

Penman’s lawyers argued that the decision in the Bennett case cleared the way for their client to also retain his seat on the council.

Penman lost an early round and was off the council for 18 months before securing an order from the Appellate Court of Maryland. That court in part cited the Bennett decision in overturning a circuit court ruling.

“They’re basically reversing their own opinion and carving out a new path to adversarially affect deputy sheriffs, law enforcement,” Penman said Tuesday.