Boards and Commissions

Human Rights Commission

The City of Rockville Human Rights Commission (HRC) would like to offer its services to individuals and/or organization members. The HRC is an 11- member group of volunteers, appointed by the Mayor and Council, to ensure equal treatment, free from discrimination for people who live, visit, work, or recreate in the City of Rockville. Additionally, the HRC is charged with minimizing the effects of conflict and promoting appreciation of diversity within the City. To meet these goals, the Commission provides a variety of programs and services.

One service that the HRC provides is to review and/or hear investigated complaints of discrimination, and offer findings. To promote and facilitate resolutions to conflicts, the HRC provides free mediation services to people in the City who may find themselves in conflict with a neighbor, landlord, tenant, or business. Mediation helps parties clarify and resolve their disputes amicably for their mutual benefit.

In addition to protecting rights, reducing conflict, and promoting human relations, the HRC sponsors educational and cultural programs that promote global thinking, encourage civic awareness, and/or reflect the rich diversity found in the City.

The HRC challenges the minds of the City's high school students to think globally about human rights issues by sponsoring an annual essay contest. Students are given four human rights topics to choose from to develop an essay that serves as a means of creating awareness for the writers and the readers.

A cultural event that the Commission sponsors is the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration that commemorates the works of Dr. King while celebrating and bringing together the diverse community. To further some of Dr. King's goals and promote civic awareness, the Commission hosts several voter registration days.

To promote diversity and to improve human relations, it is important for the Commission to know and understand the issues that face the many communities that comprise our City. To that end, the Commission is seeking ways to inform our residents about the HRC and to learn more about their concerns. The Commission encourages residents to use, and make referrals to, the HRC. The HRC also would like to invite residents from all of our communities to apply for a Commissioner position as vacancies occur.

If you are interested in having a representative of the HRC make a brief presentation to your group about Commission activities or mediation, please call the Commission liaison, at 240-314-8316.

Members serve overlapping four-year terms. (Chapter 11, Rockville City Code)