Charles County, Maryland
Charles County · La Plata · the Potomac sits here · Waldorf is not the hall
Southern Maryland on the Potomac, not the Shore
Charles was erected 1658 and named for Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore. It is Southern Maryland, between the Potomac (west) and the Patuxent (east). La Plata is the seat. Waldorf is the large census place. Waldorf is not the county government. Port Tobacco was the seat until the courthouse moved inland. Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and sits in Anne Arundel. Upper Marlboro is Prince George’s. Leonardtown is St. Mary’s. Prince Frederick is Calvert.
Places include La Plata, Waldorf, Indian Head, Bryans Road, Hughesville, Nanjemoy, Cobb Island, Bel Alton, and Pomfret. Indian Head Naval Support Facility is federal land in this county. Quantico is Virginia. Ocean City is Worcester.
This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — patrol, court, and the Detention Center — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Charles County.
Code home rule kept. Five commissioners. Waldorf is not the seat.
Charles adopted code home rule under Article XI-F in 2002. In November 2024 the voters kept that form rather than take a charter. The Board of County Commissioners is five members — four by district and one at-large president — sitting at 200 Baltimore Street, La Plata. Not a County Executive. Not Cecil’s 2012 charter. Not Anne Arundel’s charter. There is no Charles County Police Department. The Sheriff is primary law enforcement and the jailer.
The Sheriff is four years, Article IV § 44, 2026 on the State Board of Elections local-office list. The Governor is also 2026 — a different desk. The Mayor of La Plata is a town clock.
Port Tobacco was the seat. La Plata is.
The Port Tobacco River is this water. Mattawoman, Nanjemoy Creek, and the Potomac are this water. U.S. 301 / Crain Highway and Maryland 5 are this pavement. This is not a Bay-beach county. This is not Ocean City. Staff who paste a Waldorf strip-mall onto the courthouse, or a Worcester boardwalk onto Cobb Island, are on the wrong county.
East Charles Street holds the elections office
The Board of Elections is at 201 East Charles Street, La Plata (mail: P.O. Box 908) — not the Waldorf commercial strip, not Crain Highway headquarters, not Upper Marlboro. A family in Nanjemoy registers here, not in Prince George’s. Each municipality has a site. La Plata’s site does not speak for Indian Head. The Sheriff’s listing speaks for patrol, process, court, and 6905 Crain Highway.
Crain Highway is patrol and the jail
Crime in the unincorporated county — including most of Waldorf — is this Sheriff. Crime in La Plata or Indian Head is often town police. Jail as a local house is this Sheriff’s Detention Center next to headquarters. Civil process and Circuit Court security are the Sheriff. Rights do not change at the Hughesville line. Remedy for La Plata Police is the Town. Remedy for a Sheriff’s paper or booking is the Sheriff. Relief in a Potomac flood is this count first.
Courts, patrol, Indian Head is federal, rights
A student uses town pages, the county jobs board, or the Sheriff’s official listing. College of Southern Maryland is a campus. It is not the Detention Center. Naval Support Facility Indian Head is federal. Outreach that only knows a Waldorf shopping photograph is not doing Nanjemoy.
Potomac snapshot (verify official sources)
- Seat: La Plata · Capital of Maryland: Annapolis (Anne Arundel)
- Government: five County Commissioners · code home rule (kept 2024)
- Sheriff: four years · 2026 · full-service · Detention Center on Crain Highway
- Not Waldorf as the hall · Not Prince George’s · Not St. Mary’s
What La Plata is not
- Not Waldorf as the county government. Not Port Tobacco as the live seat.
- Not Anne Arundel. Not Annapolis. Not Calvert. Not Prince Frederick.
- Not Caroline. Not Denton. Not Carroll. Not Westminster. Not Cecil. Not Elkton.
- Not a campaign flyer.