Survey finds Maryland public records not all that public

By The Associated Press

08.31.00

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Government workers across Maryland routinely refuse to release records that, by law, are supposed to be open for public inspection, according a survey conducted by 20 newspapers.

Based on the survey's findings, Marylanders who ask for records will be turned away with nothing about half the time.

Their requests will be filled promptly only in about one in four instances.

The survey of the accessibility of records was conducted in 23 counties and Baltimore in June by 20 daily and weekly newspapers that are members of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association.

Representatives of the newspapers asked for arrest and driving records, school violence reports, results of a nursing home inspection, an expense account filed by the local police chief and a copy of the county school superintendent's contract. All are covered by the public information law.

Tom Marquardt, managing editor of The (Annapolis) Capital and chairman of the committee that arranged the survey, said the records were chosen because they were representative of the types of information that are of interest to the public.

"One thing we found out was a lack of understanding of what is a public document and what's not, what should be released and what shouldn't," Marquardt said. "That's what bothers us the most."

Sheriff's and police departments were the worst offenders, providing arrest records in only six counties.

"This does not come as a surprise," said Lucy Daglish, executive director of the Washington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

She said police officials seem to think they are above the law and had the worst compliance record in similar surveys conducted by newspapers in other states.

But law enforcement officials did a better job when asked for the latest expense account for the police chief or sheriff. Those records were supplied in 13 instances, which was second best only to the 14 reports provided on nursing home inspections.

The second worst record was compiled by the Motor Vehicle Administration when representatives of the newspapers asked for the driving record of a local state senator. The information was made available in just eight counties.

Richard Scher, spokesman for the MVA, said clerks should know that driving records are public information even though personal information such as addresses cannot be released.

"The fact that some clerks might have been confused is disheartening," he said.

Michael Powell, managing editor of The Frederick News-Post, said he thinks requests are often denied out of ignorance of the law and not from a deliberate attempt to conceal information that is public.

"It's just people who aren't aware of what the law is and what they are supposed to give out," he said.

"If the law says they've got to give it up, they should turn it over and they should do it with a smile. The taxpayers own it," Powell said.

Reporters from the newspapers were told they should not identify themselves or say why they were seeking the information. In most cases, state law does not require people seeking public records to give that information.

But reporters were asked for identification about half of the time, and were asked why they wanted the records about one-third of the time.

The Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association hopes that the survey will encourage the governor, the legislature and local government officials to do a better job of complying with the public information law.

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