Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier has released the names of five people she has asked to review the credentials of the 23 candidates who have applied to become the county’s next inspector general.

Included on the advisory panel is a retired circuit court judge, a former federal inspector general, a former state legislator and the former chair of county’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics and Accountability.

“I believe the people of Baltimore County deserve effective, efficient, honest and open government. In my short time in this job, I hope – if nothing else – that will be an important part of how people remember me,” Klausmeier said in a press release issued late on Friday.

Her decision not to reappoint the current inspector general, Kelly Madigan, to a second term has sparked widespread condemnation as both unnecessary and a sop to those angered by Madigan’s past investigations into waste and corruption in county government.

• The Brew broke the story of Madigan’s non-reappointment and has covered the controversy extensively.

Six of the County Council’s seven members have said they back Madigan, who has reapplied for her current position, and indicated that they will not confirm another candidate submitted by Klausmeier.

Yesterday, four Council members – Todd Crandell, Wade Kach, David Marks and Izzy Patokda – reaffirmed to WYPR that they would only confirm Madigan, who remains inspector until a replacement is found.

While not citing her potential clash with the Council (who unanimously selected her as interim county executive last January to fill out of the term of Johnny Olszewski), Klausmeier wrote,”We have assembled some of the best-qualified people to lead the [selection] process.”

She noted that one of the panelists, Dennis King, was named by the Council.

The five are:

• Reverend William Johnson, a former inspector general for the Maryland Department of Human Services who served as chair of the Baltimore County Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics and Accountability, which recommended expanding the powers of the inspector general office.

• Kathleen Cox, a retired judge on the Circuit Court of Baltimore County and former head of the Juvenile Court in Baltimore County.

• Dennis King, an attorney in private practice with considerable experience in drafting legislation for the Maryland General Assembly.

• Arthur Elkins, who served as inspector general for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, whose former chief counsel, Amanda Conn, is currently Klausmeier’s chief of staff.

• Thomas E. Dewberry, first chief administrative law judge for the State of Maryland and a delegate in Baltimore County’s 12th, then 47B districts between 1989 and 2002.

A timetable for the panel’s deliberations was not included in tonight’s release. Nor was there any indication of whether the group would conduct public hearings as part of its review process.

Tonight’s six-paragraph letter was the first statement released by Klausmeier since her office hand-delivered a May 12 letter to Madigan saying that her term in office had expired and that she was serving as inspector general “in a holdover capacity.”