The Governor is elected by popular vote for a four-year term and may not serve for more than two consecutive terms. The Governor's powers and duties include the following:
The Lieutenant Governor is also elected to a four-year term, and performs duties delegated by the Governor. If the Governor leaves office before the end of the four-year term for any reason, the Lieutenant Governor becomes Governor.
The Attorney General is Maryland's chief legal officer. The Attorney General's Office "represents the State in all cases pending in the Appellate Courts of the State, and in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower Federal Courts." It also "gives legal opinions as to the construction or interpretation of the law as it affects various agencies of the State and gives legal opinions to local subdivisions on questions involving substantial statewide interest."
Information about the Attorney General's office, including organizational structure, origin & functions, budget and history may be found in the Maryland Manual Online: Attorney General.
More on the other constitutional officers of Maryland may be found in the Maryland Manual Online: Executive Branch, including a current executive branch organizational chart.
The 20 principal departments of Maryland's executive branch include the Departments of Aging, Agriculture, Budget & Management, Commerce, Disabilities, Education, Environment, General Services, Health, Housing & Community Development, Human Services, Information Technology, Juvenile Services, Labor, Natural Resources, Planning, and Public Safety & Correctional Services. Organizational charts and contact information may be found in the Maryland Manual Online: Departments. Each principal department is made up of numerous agencies and these will be found within each department's description in the Maryland Manual Online.
Maryland also has many executive branch agencies that are statutorily separate from principal departments; these are called independent agencies. Organizational charts and contact information may be found in the Maryland Manual Online: Independent Agencies.
Unique to Maryland is the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). It is responsible for the valuation of personal and real property for state tax purposes. Maryland is the only state where the assessment process is centralized at the State level. SDAT is also the agency with which businesses must file articles of incorporation (to form a corporation), articles of organization (to form a limited liability company), forms for registration as a foreign corporation doing business in Maryland, and related documents. More information and history of SDAT and its divisons, offices and programs may be found in the Maryland Manual Online: State Department of Assessment & Taxation.
Some historical Maryland agencies' documents may be found on LLMC Digital.