There is a Department of General Services, established as a principal department of the State government.

The head of the Department is the Secretary of General Services, who shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Before taking office, the appointee shall take the oath required by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution. The Secretary serves at the pleasure of the Governor and is responsible directly to the Governor. The Secretary shall advise the Governor on all matters assigned to the Department and is responsible for carrying out the Governor’s policies on those matters. The Secretary is responsible for the operation of the Department and shall establish guidelines and procedures to promote the orderly and efficient administration of the Department. The Secretary may establish, reorganize, or abolish areas of responsibility in the Department as necessary to fulfill the duties assigned to the Secretary. The Secretary is responsible for establishing policy to be followed by the units in the Department. The Secretary is entitled to the salary provided in the State budget.

With the approval of the Governor, the Secretary shall appoint a Deputy Secretary. The Deputy Secretary: is in the executive service of the State Personnel Management System and serves at the pleasure of the Secretary; is entitled to the salary provided in the State budget; and has the duties provided by law or delegated by the Secretary. The Secretary may employ a staff attached to the Office of the Secretary in accordance with the Code or the State budget. Each staff assistant in the Office of the Secretary in charge of a particular area of responsibility and each professional consultant is in the executive service, management service, or is a special appointment in the State Personnel Management System and is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Secretary. Except as provided in this section or otherwise by law, the Secretary shall appoint and remove all other staff in the Office of the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of the State Personnel and Pensions Article. The Secretary may review any personnel action taken by any unit in the Department. The Secretary may delegate the power to approve any appointment or removal to the head or governing body of any unit in the Department.

The Secretary is responsible for the budget of the Office of the Secretary and for the budget of each unit in the Department. The Secretary may adopt regulations for the Department and its units. The Secretary shall review and may approve, disapprove, or revise regulations of any unit of the Department. The Secretary may create any advisory body of any size that the Secretary considers appropriate for the operation of the Department. The Secretary shall have a seal. The Secretary is responsible for the planning of activities, programs, and services of the Department. The Secretary may review, approve, disapprove, or modify the plans, proposals, and projects of the units in the Department. On or before December 1 of each year, the Secretary shall send a report to the Governor on the activities of the Department during the previous fiscal year. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Secretary may exercise any authority that is granted to any unit in the Department. This subsection does not authorize the Secretary to exercise any authority granted to the General Professional Services Selection Board.

This section does not apply to a unit in the Department to the extent that the unit is permitted by law to employ its own legal adviser or counsel. The Attorney General is legal adviser to the Department. The Attorney General shall assign to the Department the number of Assistant Attorneys General authorized by law to be assigned to the Department and to its units. The Attorney General shall designate 1 of the Assistant Attorneys General assigned to the Department as counsel to the Department. After the Attorney General designates the counsel to the Department, the Attorney General may not reassign the counsel without consulting the Secretary. The counsel may have no duty other than to give the legal aid, advice, and counsel required by the Secretary or any other official of the Department, to supervise the other Assistant Attorneys General assigned to the Department, and to perform for the Department the duties that the Attorney General assigns. The counsel shall perform these duties subject to the control and supervision of the Attorney General.

The following units are in the Department: the Board of Architectural Review; the Office of State Procurement; and any other unit that is in the Department under any other law. Each unit in the Department shall report to the Secretary.

In addition to its other functions, the Department shall perform any function requested of it or delegated to it by the Board of Public Works.

The Department has any power necessary and proper to accomplish a function conferred on it by law or delegated to it or requested of it by the Board of Public Works.

The Department of General Services, the Department of Transportation, and the University System of Maryland shall reserve a reasonable amount of space in State buildings under their control, subject to regulations adopted by the Board of Public Works, so that any law enforcement agency or State recognized nonprofit advocacy group for abducted children can display the picture of a child abducted in a noncustody-related abduction in the reserved space.

In this section, “POW/MIA flag” means the POW/MIA flag of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. This section does not apply to: the State House; or a State building that: is a historic building; or has a flagpole attached to the building; and is determined to be structurally unable to withstand additional flags being flown from the flagpole. The Secretary of General Services and the Secretary of Transportation shall cause the POW/MIA flag to be flown on the grounds of all State buildings under their control whenever the flag of the United States is flown.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. “Executive agency” means a unit of the Executive Branch of State government. “Identification card” means a security card issued by the Department to a State employee or other individual authorized by the Secretary, including a contractor, regulated lobbyist, media personnel, local government official, or volunteer. The Department may include a notation on an identification card or public profile indicating that the holder is a veteran if the individual issued the identification card presents a certification of veteran status obtained from the Department of Veterans and Military Families in accordance with § 9–905 of the State Government Article, a DD Form 214, or other documentation acceptable to the Department. The Department may limit the notation authorized by paragraph (1) of this subsection to a certain category or categories of identification card holders. If the Department provides an option for a notation on an identification card or public profile that indicates that the holder is a veteran, the Department shall include on the application for the identification card the option for the applicant to: indicate that the applicant is a veteran; and consent to being contacted by appropriate executive agencies regarding the individual’s eligibility for State or federal veterans’ benefits. In accordance with Title 4, Subtitle 3 of the General Provisions Article and any other applicable law, and on request by an executive agency, the Department shall transmit to the executive agency appropriate information about each identification card holder who has given consent under paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection. Unless otherwise authorized or required by law, the Department may not transmit information obtained on an application for an identification card that relates to the applicant’s status as a veteran unless the applicant has given consent under paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection. The Department may adopt regulations to carry out this section.