The panel set up by Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier to recommend candidates for Baltimore County’s next inspector general will hold its first session, a virtual conference without public comment access, on Thursday.

The session, starting at 1 p.m., can be viewed through this link. Or listeners can call in at 1-415-655-0001, meeting number 92985678.

“Viewers and callers will only be able to view or listen to the meeting to avoid disruption,” according to today’s posting.

Klausmeier’s decision not to appoint Kelly Madigan, the county’s first inspector general, to a second term has been criticized by activists, Common Cause and some County Council lawmakers as both unnecessary and a sop to those angered by Madigan’s investigations into waste and corruption in county government.

Those investigations touched several key figures in the Johnny Olszewski administration, most recently his uncle Robert Olszewski.

Her work has also infuriated former Council Chair Julian E. Jones Jr. (D, 4th), who was the subject of two Madigan investigations.

• See here for The Brew’s thorough coverage of the controversy.

The selection panel, consisting of two members previously employed as inspector generals for the state and for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, a retired judge, a retired state delegate and a lawyer in private practice, will select a chairman and be instructed on legal matters by Chief of Staff Amanda Conn and County Attorney James Benjamin.

“Holdover Capacity”

The county says 23 candidates have applied. Madigan, who was told by Klausmeier on May 12 she was serving “in a holdover capacity,” says she reapplied for the job and wants to continue to build the IG Office, which was granted permanent status in county government by an overwhelming public vote last November.

The virtual meeting is expected to adjourn into a closed session to discuss personnel matters and candidate qualifications, as permitted by the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

So far, there has been no information about whether the panel plans to take public testimony, when it expects to make its recommendation or how many candidates it may chose as finalists.

Whomever is finally selected by Klausmeier will need to be confirmed by the County Council, of which four of seven members have publicly said they would only back Madigan for the post.