Details about shipments of crude oil are trade secrets protected from disclosure under the Maryland Public Information Act, two national railroad companies have argued in an attempt to prevent a state agency from releasing the information. Norfolk Southern Corp. and CSX Transportation Inc. each filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Department of the Environment last summer as the department was preparing to disclose the information at the request of McClatchy Newspapers and the Associated Press. Under the Public Information Act, state agencies have 30 days to respond to requests.

Tagged with: baltimore city circuit court maryland public information act

Stricter enforcement of the Maryland Public Information Act might be on the way.

Tagged with: delaware maryland Maryland General Assembly maryland public information act

Attorney General Brian E. Frosh is promising to make government documents more accessible under the Maryland Public Information Act.

Tagged with: anthony brown Attorney General Brian E. Frosh maryland health benefit exchange maryland public information act

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown officially leaves office Wednesday but one could make the case that he might have checked out a whole lot earlier.

Tagged with: anthony brown Boyd Rutherford Larry Hogan maryland public information act

Maryland’s top court will use the case of a racial slur left on a witness's voicemail to determine whether a person who complains police misconduct should have access to documents from the resulting internal-affairs investigation, or whether the government can issue a blanket denial under the Maryland Public Information Act.

Tagged with: maryland public information act

Maryland police must defend document-by-document their refusal to release documents related to its investigation of a woman’s claim that an officer called her by a racial epithet in a voicemail.

Tagged with: ACLU maryland public information act maryland state police

Officials with the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange are vowing to do a better job of responding to requests for documents after a review of a log tracking the requests revealed the agency has violated the law in more than three out of every 10 requests.

Tagged with: maryland health benefit exchange maryland public information act sen bill ferguson

When it comes to getting out of late-filing fines, one state elections official has nearly heard them all.

Tagged with: campaign finance jared demarinis maryland public information act maryland state board of elections public information act waiver

People who have attempted to access public records recently say they hope a government study that starts next month will make records more accessible.

Tagged with: Maryland General Assembly maryland health benefit exchange maryland public information act Maryland State Department of Education speed cameras

The Maryland Public Information Act requires the state comptroller to provide a list of the “top 5,000 accounts” of abandoned properties to a businessman who, for a fee, helps reunite people with their lost goods, a Maryland appellate court has held.

Tagged with: legal news maryland court of appeals Maryland Court of Special Appeals maryland public information act