Howard County Council Bill 69 would make Inspector General Kelly Madigan the custodian of county records, a change intended to address access limits her office says have affected its investigations. The council held a public hearing on the proposal October 19 and is expected to vote Friday, October 30, according to WMAR-2 News.
What the bill would change
District 4 Councilmember Deb Jung introduced the measure. It would authorize Madigan to obtain records held by county officials, agents and employees. Madigan has said records provided to her office have sometimes been redacted, while other requests were denied under the Maryland Public Information Act. She said making her custodian would resolve barriers involving about 50 documents, according to WBFF.
The records dispute follows Madigan’s September testimony that her office had received 97 complaints but could not pursue every matter, including some requiring personnel records. Jung has argued the bill is needed so the inspector general can investigate those cases, WMAR reported.
Council members disagree over authority
Council Chair Opel Jones has questioned whether the proposal is legally sound and argued that the inspector general already has direct access to records under current law. He also opposed giving the office unrestricted access. Earlier in October, his motion to stop the bill from advancing failed 3-2, according to WMAR-2 News.
Councilwoman Christiana Rigby raised a separate concern, describing what she saw as a pattern of conduct toward Black men in leadership. Jones also alleged racial undertones in criticism of elected officials of color, WMAR reported. Jung called the allegations meritless and a distraction from the records issue, the outlet said. Former state senator Allan Kittleman separately said some county leaders were trying to impede the inspector general’s work, according to WBFF.
Public hearing and next steps
Residents who testified questioned whether the inspector general could fulfill the office’s purpose without access to the records needed for investigations. WBFF reported that dozens attended and that no one who testified opposed the measure. Jones, meanwhile, cited the possibility of legal problems and said voters might reconsider the proposal if they believed it conflicted with state or federal law, according to the station.
Delegate Chao Wu is working on a possible state-level remedy for the next legislative session, WMAR reported. The council’s scheduled October 30 vote would determine whether the county advances its own records-access proposal before that effort.
A broader dispute over records
The question extends beyond Howard County. Inspectors general in Baltimore, Baltimore County, Howard County and Montgomery County have sought a change to Maryland’s public-records law to ensure access to records needed for investigations, The Baltimore Banner reported. Montgomery County Inspector General Megan Limarzi told the paper that her office had recently been denied a record of a type it had previously obtained without difficulty. The Banner also reported that her office received 378 hotline calls last year.
In Baltimore, a judge restored the city inspector general’s computer access and ordered the city to respond to her subpoenas, CBS News Baltimore reported. Former Baltimore Inspector General David McClintock, whose tenure ended in 2013, told the outlet he had never been denied a record while in office. The report also described efforts by Maryland inspectors general to pursue a state-law exception to the Public Information Act for their offices.
