Pursuant to Title 4 of the General Provisions of the Maryland Code, certain records are not subject to inspection by the public for public policy purposes.

Some exemptions from disclosure are mandatory – meaning that the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office has no authority to release them. Other exemptions are discretionary – meaning that the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office has the option to decide whether the records should be released. This discretion is not unlimited. The Sheriff’s Office must explain why the discretionary exemption is being invoked – or, in other words, why disclosure is not in the public interest.

Mandatory exemptions are those denials set forth in the MPIA or any other Federal or Maryland law that prevents an agency or governmental unit (such as the County) from disclosing certain records.

Examples of some of the more common mandatory exemptions include the following:

1. GP § 4-311: “personnel records” of an individual are protected; however, such records are available to the person who is the subject of the record and to the officials who supervise that person. An agency may not generally share personnel records with other agencies; however, it is implicit in the personnel records exemption that another agency charged with responsibilities related to personnel administration may have access to those records to the extent necessary to carry out its duties.

2. GP § 4-329(b): prevents disclosure of medical or psychological information about an individual person, as well as personal information about a person with a disability. The exception also explicitly makes confidential certain reports that local health departments receive from physicians who diagnose cases of HIV or AIDS. Thus, medical information such as the symptoms of an ill or injured individual recorded during a call to 911 to assist in dispatch of emergency personnel is not to be released.

3. GP § 4-335 prevents disclosure of trade secrets, confidential commercial or financial information, and confidential geological or geophysical information, if that information is furnished by or obtained from any person or governmental unit.

4. GP § 4-335 prevents disclosure of trade secrets, confidential commercial or financial information, and confidential geological or geophysical information, if that information is furnished by or obtained from any person or governmental unit.

5. GP § 4-336 protects from disclosure the part of a public record that contains information about the finances of an individual, including assets, income, liabilities, net worth, bank balances, financial history or activities, or credit worthiness.

Discretionary exemptions are those denials set forth in the MPIA or any other Federal or Maryland law that allow an agency or governmental unit (such as the County) to deny inspection of certain records.

Examples of some discretionary exemptions include:

1. Executive Privilege: This exemption recognizes that it is in the public interest to protect confidential communications between elected officials, their high-level advisors and other key staff members that are not intended to be made public. The public decision-making process is strengthened when decision makers and their advisors are allowed to share ideas and communicate freely as part of that process so that honest and frank comments can be obtained without concern that the comments will be made public. The final versions of documents may be public records, but internal drafts of those documents are protected because the manner in which draft documents are edited and reviewed can reveal the thought processes of the drafter and reviewers and highlight areas where there may be agreement or disagreement.

2. Attorney-Client Privilege: Communications between an attorney and client are privileged and confidential by law unless the privilege is waived by the client.

3. Interagency or Intra-agency Memoranda – GP § 4-344: Interagency or intra-agency memoranda or letters that would be privileged in litigation. This exemption allows a custodian to deny inspection of any part of an interagency or intra-agency letter or memorandum that would not be available by law to a private party in litigation with the unit. This exemption reflects that part of the Executive Privilege doctrine encompassing letters, memoranda, or similar internal government documents containing confidential opinions, deliberations, advice or recommendations from one governmental employee or official to another for the purpose of assisting the latter official in the decision-making function.

4. GP § 4-345: Testing records for academic, employment, or licensing examinations

5. GP § 4-352: Plans and procedures relating to emergency procedures and records relating to buildings, facilities, and infrastructure, the disclosure of which would jeopardize security, facilitate planning of a terrorist attack, or endanger life or physical safety

6. GP § 4-351: permits the withholding of certain investigatory records and records that contain intelligence information and security procedures. This exemption also pertains to any law enforcement cases that are still under open investigation or have not reached adjudication with the court system. The determinations required of the custodian vary depending on the particular records at issue.