The Maryland Board of Public Works
is created by Article XII of the Mary-
land Constitution. The members of the
Board are the governor, the comptroller,
and the treasurer. The general duties
of the Board are to oversee the fiscal
affairs of the State and to perform any
duties which the General Assembly may
direct.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
Article XII, Sections 2 and 3 of the
Maryland Constitution authorize the
Board to appoint directors and to sell
the State's interest in public improve-
ment companies, such as the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal Co. Section 2 provides
that the Board shall supervise all public
works in which the State may be inter-
ested as either stockholder or creditor,
and where it has the legal powers, it
appoints the directors in railroad and
canal companies. The Board is required
to report to the General Assembly at
1 This article was prepared for the Com-
mission by Edward J. Smith, Jr., research as-
sistant to the Constitutional Convention Com-
mission; A.B., 1963, Harvard University;
LL.B., 1966, University of Maryland; member
of the Maryland Bar. The Commission
expresses its appreciation to the following for
their assistance to Mr. Smith in assembling
the data included in this article: Andrew
Heubeck, Jr., Secretary to the Board of Public
Works; John A. Luetkemeyer, Treasurer;
Edward J. Schamel, Chief Deputy Treasurer;
J. Hugh Taylor, Deputy Treasurer; and
Pierce J. Lambdin, Deputy State Auditor.
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each regular session and recommend
necessary legislation to promote the be-
fore mentioned public works. The Board
shall perform such other duties as are
prescribed by law, and a majority of its
members are authorized to act for the
Board. Section 3 provides that the
Board may sell the State's interest in all
works of internal improvement and in
any banking corporation.
The history of the present constitu-
tional provisions discloses that in the
years immediately preceding the adop-
tion of the Constitution of 1851, the
State had invested heavily in internal
development ventures such as railroads,
turnpikes, and canals. Few of these
investments were profitable and the
Board had tremendous responsibilities
in managing them. Responsibility
ended, however, when the investments
were sold, and today these constitutional
provisions have little application.2
Article III, Section 34 of the mary-
land constitution is the present con-
stitutional source of the power which
the Board now exercises. Section 34
provides that the General Assembly may
authorize the Board to direct the treas-
urer to borrow, in anticipation of col-
lecting taxes, any funds needed to meet
temporary deficiencies in the treasury to
aid the State and its agencies. Another
2 A. niles, maryland constitutional
law 327-28 (1915).
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