Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 4-201 Citation of legal authority.
§ 4-201. Citation of legal authority.
A regulation is not effective unless it contains a citation of the legal authority for the regulation.
(Ord. 23-269; Ord. 20-431.)
Form of Regulations; Submission Before Publication
Baltimore City Code div. General Provisions, tit. 4, subtit. 2
in effectBaltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 4-202 Form of proposed regulation.
§ 4-202. Form of proposed regulation.
Except as otherwise provided in § 4-203 of this subtitle, regulations shall be written in plain language and shall conform to the style set forth in a style manual adopted by the Department of Legislative Reference.
(Ord. 23-269; Ord. 21-055; Ord. 20-431.)
Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 4-203 Incorporation by reference.
§ 4-203. Incorporation by reference.
(a) “Incorporate by reference” defined.
In this section, “incorporate by reference” means the method by which a regulation makes provisions of another document part of the regulation by reference to the other document.
(b) In general.
An agency may incorporate by reference another document within a regulation if:
(1) both the Director and the agency find that restating the text or graphics of the document within the regulation would be unduly cumbersome, expensive, or otherwise inexpedient;
(2) the reference within the regulation fully identifies the:
(i) incorporated document by title and date of publication or issuance; and
(ii) the page or pages of the incorporated document the regulation comprises;
(3) the reference clearly states which part or parts of the document are being incorporated, if the agency intends to incorporate only a portion of a document; and
(4) the agency maintains a copy of the incorporated document that is:
(i) available for public inspection on the agency’s website; and
(ii) indexed in plain language so that the public may easily search for the location of different topics contained in the regulation.
(c) Subsequent amendments to incorporated material.
An agency may incorporate later amendments or editions of a document previously incorporated by reference within a regulation only after compliance with the proposal, notice and publication, and adoption procedures set forth in this title.
(Ord. 21-055.)
Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 4-204 Single subject.
§ 4-204. Single subject.
A proposed regulation may not contain more than one subject matter.
(Ord. 21-055; Ord. 20-431.)
Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 4-205 Submission before publication.
§ 4-205. Submission before publication.
(a) Initial submission.
(1) Department of Legislative Reference.
(i) Before submitting a proposed regulation for inclusion in the Register, an agency shall submit the following to the Department of Legislative Reference for revision and approval of style and format:
(A) the text of a proposed regulation; and
(B) a Notice of Regulation Development in the form and with the content required by the Director.
(ii) Upon receipt of the materials described in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Department of Legislative Reference shall forward the Notice of Regulation Development to the City Solicitor for initial approval as to the legal authority to promulgate regulations.
(2) City Administrator; City Solicitor.
After a proposed regulation is approved by the Department of Legislative Reference as required by paragraph (1) of this subsection, an agency shall then submit the proposed regulation to:
(i) the City Solicitor for approval as to form and legal sufficiency; and
(ii) the City Administrator for approval.
(b) Effect of noncompliance.
If an agency fails to comply with this section or if the Department of Legislative Reference or the City Solicitor fails to approve the regulation as specified in subsection (a):
(1) the proposed regulation may not be adopted; and
(2) if adopted, is not effective.
(Ord. 23-269; Ord. 21-055; Ord. 20-431.)
Source: City of Baltimore Department of Legislative Reference, City of Baltimore Law Library (codes.baltimorecity.gov; Open Law Library bulk XML)URL: https://codes.baltimorecity.gov/us/md/cities/baltimore/code/general/4/2Fetched: 10/25/2026