By MDBayNews Staff
A growing dispute between Baltimore City’s Inspector General and Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration has now widened into a statewide showdown over the power of Maryland’s local watchdog offices.
On February 12, 2026, the Inspectors General of Montgomery County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Howard County issued a rare joint public statement expressing “profound concern” over a February 3 advisory letter from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General (OAG) interpreting the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA).
It is the first coordinated public letter of its kind from these four offices — and it signals that what began as a Baltimore dispute could reshape oversight authority across Maryland.
What the OAG Said
The controversy centers on whether local inspectors general are subject to the same mandatory disclosure exemptions under the MPIA as members of the public.
According to the joint statement, the OAG concluded that the MPIA’s mandatory exceptions — including protections for personnel records, financial data, medical information, and other sensitive files — apply to local inspectors general “in the exact same way they apply to the public,” regardless of local laws granting them investigative access. statement_from_igs_on_oag_advic…
If applied strictly, that interpretation would allow agencies to withhold or heavily redact records even when inspectors general request them for investigative purposes.
The inspectors warn that such a reading could “incapacitate” their offices and undermine their ability to investigate fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct on behalf of 2.8 million Maryland residents. statement_from_igs_on_oag_advic…
They argue that unrestricted access to relevant records is “fundamental” to fulfilling their statutory duties and that excessive redactions could render evidence “essentially useless from an evidentiary standpoint.” statement_from_igs_on_oag_advic…
The inspectors also emphasize that once such records are in their possession, they are already bound by confidentiality restrictions and do not publicly disclose protected material. statement_from_igs_on_oag_advic…
The Baltimore Flashpoint
While the legal question has statewide implications, the immediate catalyst appears to be an escalating conflict in Baltimore City.
The OAG advisory letter was reportedly issued in response to inquiries from State Sen. Antonio Hayes amid tensions between Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming and Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration.
City officials have cited the advisory letter to justify limiting the IG’s access to certain records, particularly in connection with an ongoing investigation involving the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).
That dispute has already resulted in redactions, access restrictions, and a vote by the Baltimore City Board of Estimates to authorize outside counsel for the IG’s office to enforce subpoenas if necessary. Court involvement is increasingly possible.
What began as a city-level legal disagreement has now prompted watchdogs in three other major jurisdictions to publicly warn that the OAG’s interpretation could weaken independent oversight statewide.
A Proposed Legislative Fix
Rather than allow the matter to unfold entirely in court, the inspectors are urging the Maryland General Assembly to clarify the law during the current session.
They propose adding a new provision to the MPIA — GP 4-301(c) — explicitly requiring custodians to provide records to inspectors general when:
- The inspector general is authorized by local law to demand the record;
- The record is necessary to perform official duties; and
- Any redisclosure remains limited by the Act. statement_from_igs_on_oag_advic…
The inspectors say such an amendment would eliminate confusion and affirmatively preserve their investigative authority. statement_from_igs_on_oag_advic…
Attorney General’s Clarification
Attorney General Anthony Brown has reportedly described the February 3 advisory letter as a non-binding summary rather than a formal opinion, characterizing it in comments as something that “could have been written by a second-year law student.”
That remark has added another layer of ambiguity. If the advisory is non-binding, critics ask why it is already being used to restrict access in Baltimore.
From a governance standpoint, the question is no longer simply how the MPIA should be read. It is whether advisory interpretations — even informal ones — can materially alter the practical authority of independent watchdog offices.
A Larger Oversight Question
For taxpayers, this dispute goes beyond statutory language.
Inspectors general are designed to function as internal anti-corruption safeguards. Their ability to access personnel files, contracts, financial records, and internal communications is often essential to uncovering misconduct.
If agencies can invoke public-record exemptions against their own watchdogs, the balance of power shifts significantly toward the executive side of government.
At the same time, privacy protections embedded in the MPIA are not trivial. Personnel records and sensitive financial information are protected for legitimate reasons. The policy challenge is to reconcile those protections with effective oversight.
The General Assembly may now be forced to decide whether the current law strikes that balance correctly — or whether it must be clarified to prevent erosion of investigative authority.
What Happens Next
As of Thursday evening, the joint letter had been shared widely on social media and covered by multiple Maryland media outlets. The Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General posted the full statement on their official X account.
No formal legislative response has yet been announced, and the OAG has not publicly addressed the proposed statutory amendment.
Meanwhile, the underlying dispute in Baltimore continues to escalate, with the potential for judicial review looming.
For Maryland voters, the outcome could determine not only the future of one city investigation, but the structural strength of independent oversight across the state.
In a year already marked by heightened scrutiny of public spending and executive authority, the question is straightforward: do inspectors general have the tools they need to do their jobs — or are those tools now being narrowed by interpretation rather than by statute?
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