Politics & Government
Senate Committee Votes In Favor Of MSP Superintendent Nominee's Confirmation
The committee's decision on Butler had been postponed after his confirmation hearing earlier this week as senators weighed a long list.
March 29, 2023
The Maryland Senate Executive Nominations Committee voted Wednesday afternoon to recommend the confirmation of retired Lt. Col. Roland Butler as superintendent of the Maryland State Police. If confirmed by the full Senate, Butler would become the first Black superintendent in the history of the agency.
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The committee vote was 15-2.
The committee’s decision on Butler had been briefly postponed after his confirmation hearing earlier this week as senators weighed a long list of endorsements for the nominee with his history in a position of leadership within the agency, which is accused of failing to do enough about complaints of racism and disparate treatment of Black officers when it came to promotions and discipline.
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The agency is currently the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into discriminatory practices and a class-action lawsuit filed in October by three troopers.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) nominated Butler for the role in February. The administration has shown support for his confirmation ever since.
“We see Lt. Col. Butler’s nomination as an opportunity to bring in a leader who has also experienced some of the challenges that his fellow black state troopers are concerned about and he is therefore uniquely positioned to work in partnership with his colleagues to improve the agency,” a spokesman told Maryland Matters earlier this month.
Butler worked with the state police for nearly 30 years with his previous assignment as chief of the Field Operations Bureau, the most visible part of the agency of more than 1,000 troopers, who are assigned to 23 barracks statewide.
Before Butler was voted, Executive Nominations Chair Pamela Beidle (D-Anne Arundel) read a short statement, indicating that the committee, Moore, Butler and an association of Black state troopers had reached an agreement that will require Butler to report back to the Senate on progress toward shared goals if he’s confirmed. The first report would be due July 1.
This breaking news story will be updated.
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