MDDC Seeks Action in Wake of Public Records Audit

MDDC Seeks Action in Wake of Public Records Audit

     The discovery by Maryland newspapers that the state’s public records are only public about 50 percent of the time has grabbed the attention of some top state officials who promise corrective action. Targets are a program to educate the government employees in charge of the records and possible legislation to clarify the law.
     Since the August 30 release of "Access Maryland," the public records audit project carried out over the summer by 20 newspapers under the direction of the MDDC Press Association’s Freedom of Information Subcommittee, both state Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. and Speaker of the House Casper R. Taylor have met with newspaper leaders and promised action.
     "We will work with the press association to draft legislation to correct any specific problems" with the state’s Public Information Act, Curran told Jim Lee, editor of the Carroll County Times and an FOI Subcommittee member on September 15. "We also will offer our office as a resource or training mechanism for local governments," he said. Curran confirmed his pledge in a follow-up meeting with MDDC leaders September 20.
     Taylor made a similar pledge when he addressed the MDDC convention September 8 at Rocky Gap Lodge near Cumberland. The House speaker said he hopes to convene a "summit" of county, municipal and state leaders as well as news executives to discuss increased training for government employees in handling citizens’ requests to obtain public records.
     The September 20 meeting with Curran was "very promising," in the words of FOI Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marquardt, managing editor of The (Annapolis) Capital. In addition to Marquardt, the MDDC group included Government Affairs Committee Chair Carol Melamed of The Washington Post, Lee and MDDC Executive Director Jim Donahue.
     As a result of the Curran meeting, the Association’s FOI group:

1. will review an instructional booklet on PIA compliance the AG’s office is preparing as a result of the MDDC audit and has offered to work with the office as it establishes an education program for records custodians

2. will submit suggestions for changes in the AG’s PIA manual that is being updated

3. will explore further with the AG’s office a recommendation for creation of an ongoing entity that could respond to queries regarding the law and whether it should be an informed Q&A service or an advisory body that issues non-binding opinions like the one established a decade ago for the Open Meetings Act

4. will offer suggested changes to the current records law for possible support by Curran and his office.

     Speaker Taylor told the MDDC at Rocky Gap that he did not think the state’s 30-year-old PIA needed an overhaul, but he said he would support and sponsor legislation to fine-tune the law where needed.
     Marquardt said the FOI group had identified several such areas needing clarification based on the outcome of Access Maryland. They include provisions regarding the 30-day response time, written request requirement, arrest logs and electronic data.
     The audit itself was conducted June 15 by 20 newspapers from across the state and covered all 23 Maryland counties and the city of Baltimore. In each of the 24 jurisdictions, reporters asked for six records clearly identified in the law as being public – arrest logs, nursing home inspection reports, police chief’s or sheriff’s expense reports, school violence reports, school superintendent’s employment contract and the driving record of the local state senator.
     In only 25 percent of the cases were the records readily given out. In about another quarter of the cases the records were made available after repeated queries by the reporters and up to 30 days delay while written FOI requests were processed. In the other half of the cases access was denied.
     "What this audit proves is that the [PIA] is not being followed as much as the Legislature would like to think," said Marquardt. "We’re looking for a re-examination of the PIA to see if elements of that law need changing or updating."
     The law states that requestors do not have to identify themselves or give a reason for wanting the records. Nevertheless, in many cases the auditors, who did not initially identify themselves, were asked who they are, where they worked and why they wanted the record. In many cases access was not given until that information was furnished.
     The worst offenders were sheriff’s departments where access to routine arrest logs was denied 74 percent of the time.
     "In the states that have done these audits, the police have always been the most resistant," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "The police think they have some sort of immunity from complying with the law, but that’s just about the worst response in any state I’ve heard of," she said of the Maryland results.
      Fourteen states have done similar open records audits.
      In addition to Marquardt and Lee, the core group conducting the Access Maryland project included Jim Keat, a retired editor of The (Baltimore) Sun, Mike Powell of The Frederick News-Post and Gloria George of The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail. Results of the audit are available at MDDC’s Web site – www.mddcpress.com.