1)
• Did your jurisdiction put in place any new orders, laws or guidelines for how it will respond to Maryland Public Information Act requests, particularly related to response deadlines?
• Did you rely on any state orders or guidance that deviated from the Maryland Public Information Act?
• Or have there been no changes during the pandemic in how your jurisdiction applied and followed the PIA?
ª Please provide a copy of any local or state orders, laws or guidelines put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, that have altered how and when you respond.
2)
For these three periods:
- March 5, 2020, to Feb. 1, 2021
- March 5, 2019, to Feb. 1, 2020
- March 5, 2018, to Feb. 1, 2019
I would like to know:
• How many requests your jurisdiction received in each period under the PIA (in which the requester cited the law, plus any requests that did not cite the law, but you considered to be PIA requests)
• How many PIA requests during each period were approved in part or full and how many were denied in full
• The average time, in days, that it took your jurisdiction to respond to a PIA request during each of the three periods, either with some or all of the information requested or with a denial
• What is the longest it took in each period to respond to a request with information that was sought or a full denial
Responsive to this request, in addition to the records below, please find here available information regarding outcomes of HCPSS MPIA requests - Please note, individual requests may have more than one outcome. Additionally, HCPSS does not delineate full denials vs. documents withheld, and other outcomes may include withdraw by the requester, no response/clarification/payment received to continue, no documents existed, or other such circumstances that don’t constitute a denial or approval:
- March 5, 2020, to Feb. 1, 2021
- 257 requests received
- 133 responses included documents in full
- 43 responses included documents with partial redaction
- 13 responses had documents withheld or were denied in full
- March 5, 2019, to Feb. 1, 2020
- 401 requests received
- 225 responses included documents in full
- 48 responses included documents with partial redaction
- 16 responses had documents withheld or were denied in full
- March 5, 2018, to Feb. 1, 2019
- 267 requests received
- 143 responses included documents in full
- 30 responses included documents with partial redaction
- 19 responses had documents withheld or were denied in full
Please note, while no changes were made to guidelines during the pandemic and responses continued to be handled on a case-by-case basis with direct communication to requesters when additional time is needed for completion, as a matter of notification when sending a 10 day initial response letter our office has used the following language to advise requesters of the potential for delay: “We write today to advise you that it will take us more than 10 working days to fulfill your request, and that we anticipate doing so as soon as possible. Please note, however, that due to potential issues during the coronavirus pandemic, fulfillment of your request may take longer than 30 days.”