Referendum question on Howard’s sanctuary county status will appear on 2022 ballot

The Howard County Board of Elections has verified that there are enough signatures on a petition to put a repeal of Howard County’s new sanctuary county law on the ballot as a referendum for the November 2022 election, according to county elections Director Guy Mickley. Citizens For A Strong And Safe Howard County (In Opposition of CB 63-2020) has been lobbying to put the repeal of the sanctuary law on the ballot since at least its passage in December. The citizens group calls the law “bad public policy” and says it offers undocumented immigrants a false sense of security, threatens public safety in Howard and restricts county police from cooperating with federal law enforcement personnel, according to its website.