144 /Constitutional Offices & Agencies

DIVISION OF STATE DOCUMENTS
Robert J. Colborn, Jr., Administrator
Dennis C. Schnepfe, Deputy Administrator

P.O. Box 2249
11 Bladen St. (Old Armory Building)
Annapolis, MD 21404 (410) 974-2486
fax: (410) 974-2546

The Division of State Documents was created
within the Office of the Secretary of State in 1974
(Chapter 600, Acts of 1974). Appointed by the Gov-
ernor, the Administrator is responsible for publication
of the Maryland Register and the Code of Maryland
Regulations (COMAR). The Administrator also over-
sees the Maryland Information Retrieval System
(MIRS), a computerized information retrieval service
for State statutes, regulations, proposed regulations,
and Executive Orders (Code State Government Arti-
cle, secs. 7-201 through 7-222).

The primary duties of the Division are to print
and distribute two official State publications: (1)
the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), the
permanent compilation of the Governor's executive
orders, all State agency regulations, and all opinions
issued by the State Ethics Commission; and (2) the
Maryland Register, a bi-weekly publication that
serves as a temporary supplement to COMAR.

The Register prints all proposed, adopted and
emergency regulations of the State's administrative
agencies; notices of public hearings and meetings;
the full text of all opinions of the Attorney General;
proposed and adopted rules of court; hearing cal-
endars of the Courts of Appeal; synopses of all
legislation proposed, enacted, and vetoed each leg-
islative session of the General Assembly; all Execu-
tive Orders; all gubernatorial appointments;
notices of bids requested and awards announced on
all State contracts valued above $25,000; and any
other document the General Assembly requires or
the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive
and Legislative Review (AELR) permits to be pub-
lished. An index to the Register is published quar-
terly and is cumulative throughout the year. All
adopted regulations and Executive Orders that are
generally permanent in nature are periodically taken
from the pages of the Register and integrated into
COMAR by means of published supplements.

With the exception of emergency regulations,
administrative regulations are not effective until
notice of their adoption is published in the Mary-
land Register. The text of any document appearing
in the Maryland Register and COMAR is the only
official, valid and enforceable text of that document.
Any document appearing in the Maryland Register
and COMAR is accorded judicial notice in all court
proceedings.