Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB145 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	sb0145
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 145
8	8	P3, G2 5lr1379
9	9	SB 312/24 – EEE (PRE–FILED)
10	10	By: Senator Folden
11	11	Requested: October 25, 2024
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 8, 2025
13	13	Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Public Information Act – Personnel Records of Elected Officials and Joint 2
20	20	Ethics Committee Records 3
21	21
22	22	FOR the purpose of establishing that certain records of elected officials are not personnel 4
23	23	records for the purposes of inspection under the Public Information Act; establishing 5
24	24	that certain records of the State Ethics Commission and Joint Committee on 6
25	25	Legislative Ethics are available for public inspection under certain circumstances; 7
26	26	and generally relating to inspection of records of elected officials. 8
27	27
28	28	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 9
29	29	Article – General Provisions 10
30	30	Section 4–101(a) and (l) and 5–101(a) and (u) 11
31	31	Annotated Code of Maryland 12
32	32	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 13
33	33
34	34	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 14
35	35	Article – General Provisions 15
36	36	Section 4–311, 5–407, and 5–517 16
37	37	Annotated Code of Maryland 17
38	38	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 18
39	39
40	40	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 19
41	41	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 20
42	42
43	43	Article – General Provisions 21
44	44
45	45	4–101. 22
46	46
47	47	(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. 23
48	48	2 SENATE BILL 145
49	49
50	50
51	51	(l) “Technical infraction” means a minor rule violation by an individual solely 1
52	52	related to the enforcement of administrative rules that: 2
53	53
54	54	(1) does not involve an interaction between a member of the public and the 3
55	55	individual; 4
56	56
57	57	(2) does not relate to the individual’s investigative, enforcement, training, 5
58	58	supervision, or reporting responsibilities; and 6
59	59
60	60	(3) is not otherwise a matter of public concern. 7
61	61
62	62	4–311. 8
63	63
64	64	(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a custodian shall deny inspection of a 9
65	65	personnel record of an individual, including an application, a performance rating, or 10
66	66	scholastic achievement information. 11
67	67
68	68	(b) A custodian shall allow inspection by: 12
69	69
70	70	(1) the person in interest; 13
71	71
72	72	(2) an elected or appointed official who supervises the work of the 14
73	73	individual; or 15
74	74
75	75	(3) an employee organization described in Title 6 of the Education Article 16
76	76	of the portion of the personnel record that contains the individual’s: 17
77	77
78	78	(i) home address; 18
79	79
80	80	(ii) home telephone number; and 19
81	81
82	82	(iii) personal cell phone number. 20
83	83
84	84	(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the following 21
85	85	records are not personnel records for the purposes of this section: 22
86	86
87	87	(i) 1. a record relating to an administrative or criminal 23
88	88	investigation of misconduct by a police officer, including an internal affairs investigatory 24
89	89	record; 25
90	90
91	91	[(ii)] 2. a hearing record; 26
92	92
93	93	[(iii)] 3. a record of positive community feedback that was not 27
94	94	solicited by the police officer who is the subject of the feedback; and 28
95	95
96	96	[(iv)] 4. records relating to a disciplinary decision; AND 29
97	97	SENATE BILL 145 3
98	98
99	99
100	100	(II) A RECORD RELATING TO AN ADMINISTRATIVE OR CRIMINAL 1
101	101	INVESTIGATION OF MIS CONDUCT BY AN ELECTE D OFFICIAL OR A PERS ON 2
102	102	APPOINTED TO FILL AN ELECTED OFFICE . 3
103	103
104	104	(2) A record of a technical infraction is a personnel record for the purposes 4
105	105	of this section. 5
106	106
107	107	5–101. 6
108	108
109	109	(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated unless: 7
110	110
111	111	(1) the context clearly requires a different meaning; or 8
112	112
113	113	(2) a different definition is adopted for a particular provision. 9
114	114
115	115	(u) “Joint Ethics Committee” means the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. 10
116	116
117	117	5–407. 11
118	118
119	119	(a) Notwithstanding any other law, and except as provided in subsections (b) and 12
120	120	(c) of this section, after a complaint is filed: 13
121	121
122	122	(1) the proceedings, meetings, and activities of the Ethics Commission and 14
123	123	its employees relating to the complaint are confidential; and 15
124	124
125	125	(2) information relating to the complaint, including the identity of the 16
126	126	complainant and respondent, may not be disclosed by: 17
127	127
128	128	(i) the Ethics Commission; 18
129	129
130	130	(ii) the staff of the Ethics Commission; 19
131	131
132	132	(iii) the complainant; or 20
133	133
134	134	(iv) the respondent. 21
135	135
136	136	(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the restrictions in 22
137	137	subsection (a) of this section apply unless: 23
138	138
139	139	(1) the matter is referred for prosecution; [or] 24
140	140
141	141	(2) the Ethics Commission finds a violation of this title; OR 25
142	142
143	143	(3) THE ETHICS COMMISSION HAS CLOSED THE COMPLAINT OR 26
144	144	INVESTIGATION . 27
145	145	4 SENATE BILL 145
146	146
147	147
148	148	(c) (1) The Ethics Commission may release any information if the respondent 1
149	149	agrees in writing to the release. 2
150	150
151	151	(2) On request of the respondent, the Ethics Commission shall disclose the 3
152	152	identity of the complainant to the respondent. 4
153	153
154	154	5–517. 5
155	155
156	156	(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, any matter before 6
157	157	the Joint Ethics Committee, including information relating to any complaint, proceeding, 7
158	158	or record of the Joint Ethics Committee, shall remain confidential. 8
159	159
160	160	(b) Public access and inspection of an activity or a record of the Joint Ethics 9
161	161	Committee shall be available for: 10
162	162
163	163	(1) a disclosure or disclaimer of a conflict of interest form filed with the 11
164	164	Joint Ethics Committee; 12
165	165
166	166	(2) a portion of a meeting in which a disclosure or disclaimer form is 13
167	167	reviewed by the Joint Ethics Committee; 14
168	168
169	169	(3) information relating to a complaint, proceeding, or record of the Joint 15
170	170	Ethics Committee involving a member of the General Assembly: 16
171	171
172	172	(I) if consent to public access and inspection is granted by: 17
173	173
174	174	[(i)] 1. the member involved in the matter; or 18
175	175
176	176	[(ii)] 2. a three–fourths vote of the full membership of the Joint 19
177	177	Ethics Committee, based on criteria established by rule; OR 20
178	178
179	179	(II) IF THE JOINT ETHICS COMMITTEE HAS CLOSED THE 21
180	180	COMPLAINT OR INVESTI GATION THAT IS THE S UBJECT OF THE RECORD ; 22
181	181
182	182	(4) a rule or broadly applicable opinion issued by the Joint Ethics 23
183	183	Committee; or 24
184	184
185	185	(5) any matter or record that is otherwise available for public access or 25
186	186	inspection as specifically authorized under this subtitle. 26
187	187
188	188	(c) (1) The Joint Ethics Committee shall provide a copy of a complaint alleging 27
189	189	a violation of the antiharassment policy and procedures and a notice of the Joint Ethics 28
190	190	Committee’s action to the Human Resources Manager of the Department of Legislative 29
191	191	Services. 30
192	192	SENATE BILL 145 5
193	193
194	194
195	195	(2) For information received under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 1
196	196	Human Resources Manager shall be subject to the confidentiality restrictions of subsections 2
197	197	(a) and (b) of this section. 3
198	198
199	199	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 4
200	200	October 1, 2025. 5
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202	202