By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Calvert County Commissioner Wilson H. Parran said this week that he will reconsider whether to run for reelection next year after learning that a federal law against political activities in the public workplace may require him to resign from his job at a state agency if he runs.

If he decides to become a candidate, Parran (D-At Large) said, he will seek an opinion from a federal agency to determine whether his candidacy would violate the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that prohibits executive-branch state and local employees of programs that receive federal funds from becoming candidates for public office in a partisan election.

Parran is the chief information officer of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which received $7.3 million in federal funds this year. The agency's Information Technology and Communication Division, which Parran heads, received $1.8 million in federal funds this year, said Jacqueline M. Lampell, a department spokeswoman.

The Hatch Act has become a focus of attention for state employees this month after a May 3 ruling by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the law, that Phil Bissett, director of the federally funded MARC commuter rail and bus division, was violating the act by running for Anne Arundel county executive. On Monday, Bissett said he would resign from his state job to come into compliance with the law.

In an interview last week, Parran said he had been unaware that the federal law could affect state employees.

"No one ever talked to me since I've been in state government about the Hatch Act," he said. "It's not been mentioned in any training I've ever gotten."

Erica Stern, a lawyer in the Hatch Act unit of the Office of Special Counsel, said about half of the 200 or so complaints the office receives each year deal with state and local employees. Most of those complaints are related to the candidacy provision.

"If an individual is covered by the Hatch Act," she said, "candidacy in a partisan election is a straight-out violation. There are no exceptions."

In a general advisory opinion not arising from Parran's situation, the Office of Special Counsel wrote, "It has long been established that an officer or employee of a state or local agency is subject to the Hatch Act if, as a normal and foreseeable incident of his principal position or job, he performs duties in connection with an activity financed in whole or in part by federal funds."

Parran said he could not say whether running for another term would violate the Hatch Act. "I'm a techie, not a lawyer," he said.

Lampell said the department has instructed Parran to seek an advisory opinion from the Office of Special Counsel if he decides to run. She said the agency has not decided what action to take if Parran files as a candidate.

Potential violations of the Hatch Act are considered by the federal Merit Systems Protections Board. If the board finds a violation, the employer must either remove the employee or lose federal aid equivalent to two years of the employee's salary.

The Hatch Act's possible application to Parran has the potential to change the calculus of the 2006 county election. Parran is the only incumbent Democrat and black on the five-member Board of County Commissioners.

Parran was also working for a federally funded state agency when he ran for office in 2002. But both he and the agency, the Department of Natural Resources, said his division was not a direct recipient of federal funds.

In an interview last week, when asked whether he would run next year, Parran said, "There's a high probability that I will."

But when asked the same question Tuesday, he said his new knowledge about the Hatch Act could affect his decision.

"I have more information now to consider in making that decision," he said.