Maryland 2022 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB307 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0307
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 307
8	8	P1, P3 2lr2010
9	9	CF 2lr1923
10	10	By: Senator Lam
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 20, 2022
12	12	Assigned to: Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Public Records – Retention and Inspection – Communications 2
19	19	(Transparency in Public Records Act of 2022) 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of altering the definition of “public record” and defining “record” for the 4
22	22	purposes of the Public Information Act and the State records management program 5
23	23	to include certain written, electronic, and recorded audio or video communications; 6
24	24	defining “unit” for the purposes of the State records management program to include 7
25	25	the Office of the Governor; and generally relating to the retention and inspection of 8
26	26	public records. 9
27	27
28	28	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 10
29	29	Article – General Provisions 11
30	30	Section 4–101 12
31	31	Annotated Code of Maryland 13
32	32	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 14
33	33
34	34	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 15
35	35	Article – State Government 16
36	36	Section 10–608 17
37	37	Annotated Code of Maryland 18
38	38	(2021 Replacement Volume) 19
39	39
40	40	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 20
41	41	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 21
42	42
43	43	Article – General Provisions 22
44	44
45	45	4–101. 23
46	46
47	47	(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. 24
48	48	2 SENATE BILL 307
49	49
50	50
51	51	(b) “Applicant” means a person or governmental unit that asks to inspect a public 1
52	52	record. 2
53	53
54	54	(c) “Board” means the State Public Information Act Compliance Board. 3
55	55
56	56	(d) “Custodian” means: 4
57	57
58	58	(1) the official custodian; or 5
59	59
60	60	(2) any other authorized individual who has physical custody and control 6
61	61	of a public record. 7
62	62
63	63	(e) “News media” means: 8
64	64
65	65	(1) newspapers; 9
66	66
67	67	(2) magazines; 10
68	68
69	69	(3) journals; 11
70	70
71	71	(4) press associations; 12
72	72
73	73	(5) news agencies; 13
74	74
75	75	(6) wire services; 14
76	76
77	77	(7) radio; 15
78	78
79	79	(8) television; and 16
80	80
81	81	(9) any printed, photographic, mechanical, or electronic means of 17
82	82	disseminating news and information to the public. 18
83	83
84	84	(f) “Official custodian” means an officer or employee of the State or of a political 19
85	85	subdivision who is responsible for keeping a public record, whether or not the officer or 20
86	86	employee has physical custody and control of the public record. 21
87	87
88	88	(g) “Person in interest” means: 22
89	89
90	90	(1) a person or governmental unit that is the subject of a public record or a 23
91	91	designee of the person or governmental unit; 24
92	92
93	93	(2) if the person has a legal disability, the parent or legal representative of 25
94	94	the person; or 26
95	95	SENATE BILL 307 3
96	96
97	97
98	98	(3) as to requests for correction of certificates of death under § 5–310(d)(2) 1
99	99	of the Health – General Article, the spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling, grandparent, 2
100	100	or guardian of the person of the deceased at the time of the deceased’s death. 3
101	101
102	102	(h) (1) “Personal information” means information that identifies an individual. 4
103	103
104	104	(2) Except as provided in § 4–355 of this title, “personal information” 5
105	105	includes an individual’s: 6
106	106
107	107	(i) name; 7
108	108
109	109	(ii) address; 8
110	110
111	111	(iii) driver’s license number or any other identification number; 9
112	112
113	113	(iv) medical or disability information; 10
114	114
115	115	(v) photograph or computer–generated image; 11
116	116
117	117	(vi) Social Security number; and 12
118	118
119	119	(vii) telephone number. 13
120	120
121	121	(3) “Personal information” does not include an individual’s: 14
122	122
123	123	(i) driver’s status; 15
124	124
125	125	(ii) driving offenses; 16
126	126
127	127	(iii) five–digit zip code; or 17
128	128
129	129	(iv) information on vehicular accidents. 18
130	130
131	131	(i) “Police officer” has the meaning stated in § 3–201 of the Public Safety Article. 19
132	132
133	133	(j) “Political subdivision” means: 20
134	134
135	135	(1) a county; 21
136	136
137	137	(2) a municipal corporation; 22
138	138
139	139	(3) an unincorporated town; 23
140	140
141	141	(4) a school district; or 24
142	142
143	143	(5) a special district. 25
144	144	4 SENATE BILL 307
145	145
146	146
147	147	(k) (1) “Public record” means the original or any copy of any documentary 1
148	148	material that: 2
149	149
150	150	(i) is made by a unit or an instrumentality of the State or of a 3
151	151	political subdivision or received by the unit or instrumentality in connection with the 4
152	152	transaction of public business; and 5
153	153
154	154	(ii) is in any form, including: 6
155	155
156	156	1. a card; 7
157	157
158	158	2. a computerized record; 8
159	159
160	160	3. correspondence; 9
161	161
162	162	4. a drawing; 10
163	163
164	164	5. film or microfilm; 11
165	165
166	166	6. a form; 12
167	167
168	168	7. a map; 13
169	169
170	170	8. a photograph or photostat; 14
171	171
172	172	9. a recording; or 15
173	173
174	174	10. a tape. 16
175	175
176	176	(2) “Public record” includes: 17
177	177
178	178	(I) ANY WRITTEN , ELECTRONIC, OR RECORDED AUDIO OR 18
179	179	VIDEO COMMUNICATION MADE IN CONNECTION W ITH THE TRANSACTION OF PUBLIC 19
180	180	BUSINESS: 20
181	181
182	182	1. MADE OR RECEIVED BY AN EMPLOYEE OF THE STATE 21
183	183	OR A POLITICAL SUBDI VISION; OR 22
184	184
185	185	2. MADE OR RECEIVED BY A PUBLIC OFFICIAL ; OR 23
186	186
187	187	(II) a document that lists the salary of an employee of a unit or an 24
188	188	instrumentality of the State or of a political subdivision. 25
189	189
190	190	(3) “Public record” does not include a digital photographic image or 26
191	191	signature of an individual, or the actual stored data of the image or signature, recorded by 27
192	192	the Motor Vehicle Administration. 28 SENATE BILL 307 5
193	193
194	194
195	195
196	196	(l) “Technical infraction” means a minor rule violation by an individual solely 1
197	197	related to the enforcement of administrative rules that: 2
198	198
199	199	(1) does not involve an interaction between a member of the public and the 3
200	200	individual; 4
201	201
202	202	(2) does not relate to the individual’s investigative, enforcement, training, 5
203	203	supervision, or reporting responsibilities; and 6
204	204
205	205	(3) is not otherwise a matter of public concern. 7
206	206
207	207	Article – State Government 8
208	208
209	209	10–608. 9
210	210
211	211	(a) In this Part II of this subtitle the following words have the meanings 10
212	212	indicated. 11
213	213
214	214	(b) “Archives” means the State Archives. 12
215	215
216	216	(c) “Division” means the Records Management Division of the Department of 13
217	217	General Services. 14
218	218
219	219	(d) “Program” means a program for the management of the records of a unit of 15
220	220	the State government. 16
221	221
222	222	(E) “RECORD” INCLUDES ANY WRITTEN , ELECTRONIC, OR RECORDED 17
223	223	AUDIO OR VIDEO COMMU NICATION MADE IN CON NECTION WITH THE TRA NSACTION 18
224	224	OF PUBLIC BUSINESS : 19
225	225
226	226	(1) MADE OR RECEI VED BY AN EMPLOYEE O F THE STATE; OR 20
227	227
228	228	(2) MADE OR RECEIVED BY A PUBLIC OFFICIAL OF THE STATE. 21
229	229
230	230	[(e)] (F) “Records officer” means any individual designated under § 10–610(b) of 22
231	231	this subtitle. 23
232	232
233	233	(G) “UNIT” INCLUDES THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR. 24
234	234
235	235	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 25
236	236	1, 2022. 26
237	237