Judge clears way for Baltimore inspector general to access city records
A judge has ruled against Baltimore City in its request to clarify and reconsider an order requiring the city to provide Inspector General Isabel Cumming with information she subpoenaed for various investigations.
The city and the Inspector General's Office (OIG) have been fighting for months over access to city records.
The judge's decision clears the way for Cumming to obtain the documents she has been seeking.
Baltimore City Solicitor Ebony Thompson asked the judge to clarify or reconsider her Aug. 14 ruling that the city must comply with subpoenas issued by the Inspector General's Office, as well as other issues dating back to April 10.
The judge also denied the mayor's motion to dismiss the case.
"The jurisdiction of the OIG to perform its work, including the issuance and enforcement of its subpoenas, is not in conflict with or restricted by the MPIA," Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Pamela White wrote. "The City's argument subjecting OIG subpoenas and investigatory requests to MPIA exclusions are inapt."
Cumming's office filed a lawsuit against the city over access to information and the power to issue and enforce subpoenas after the inspector general said she was blocked from accessing documents essential to her work.
Cumming said the lawsuit sought to prevent the city from interfering with OIG investigations and access to confidential systems. She said the city refused to comply with a subpoena by attempting to recategorize it as a request under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA), based on advice from an attorney with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.
In response to the subpoenas, the lawsuit alleges that the city provided the OIG with heavily redacted documents..
The ongoing legal dispute
The legal dispute between Cumming and the city began when the inspector general was investigating a program under the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).
Cumming said the city's law department abruptly cut off the documents she could access last January and worked to limit her subpoena power.
"The money that fuels government is that of the taxpayers, and the oversight office belongs to the taxpayers," Cumming previously told WJZ Investigates. "The roadblocks for the OIG lately have been many from the law department."
Cumming's attorney argued in court that the city's new policy restricting her access was unlawful.
Attorney Anthony May argued that the restrictions put Cumming "in a catch-22, either compromise the integrity of investigations or she is beholden to the city solicitor's office to tell them who she is investigating."
May said the city had failed to fulfill 49 recent subpoena requests. He also said the city's attempts to treat Cumming's requests the same as requests from members of the public were misguided.
City's response to the claims
The city alleges that Cumming and her team were "rifling through everyone's documents."
Attorney Renita Collins said the inspector general was improperly given full access to the city's server.
Collins argued that Cumming should be subject to Maryland's Public Information Act — the same rules as the public — when accessing records.
The city argued that the Baltimore City Charter's mandate for an independent inspector general with subpoena power cannot supersede state law.
