MARYLAND NEWS

The Maryland House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on House Bill 95 Feb. 6. The bill would require both parties, rather than one party, appear before the clerk of a circuit court to apply for a marriage license. One clerk testified after a marriage certificate was issued, the clerk's office found out that the other party on the marriage license was deceased.

Source:  wtop.com and House Bill 95

In a joint statement, four inspectors general — representing Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County and Howard County — said the guidance has the “potential to incapacitate our offices.” Source  WBFF Baltimore via msn.com  and https://x.com/RebeccaPryorTV/status/2022427039232594101/photo/1

Source: foxbaltimore.com and usatoday.com

The IG Advisory Board approves the hiring of outside legal counsel. Cumming reveals her fight with the Scott administration centers on MONSE. UPDATE: Mayor’s office says legal action by OIG in her official capacity is “not feasible.” Source: Baltimore Brew

“This is not advice about the extent to which the Baltimore City inspector general can do their work,” the Attorney General said. “It is a boilerplate analysis of the Maryland Piublic Information Act... It is not an application of law to fact.”  Source: foxbaltimore.com

The City Inspector General (IG)advisory board voted Tuesday evening to approve a resolution allowing the oversight office to enforce a subpoena for city financial records in court. The IG also called on residents to urge state lawmakers to carve out exceptions in the Maryland Public Information Act for inspectors general. Source: Baltimore Sun 

The administration’s latest assault on the city’s corruption watchdog doesn’t hold up to legal scrutiny and raises a harsh question: what are they hiding? Source: Baltimore Brew

The Maryland Attorney General's Office weighed in with an opinion stating that information that would be redacted from the public would also be redacted from city agencies as well. Source: Source: WBAL TV Baltimore via MSN.com    and  the opinion at https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/hayes-02-03-26-698657fcaa34b.pdf

Without access to IT system data and financial records, the Office of the Inspector General cannot effectively identify and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in city government, the board says. [One of the members is a CFE.] Source: BaltimoreBrew and https://www.baltimorecity.gov/inspector-general/position-paper-access-to-records

The Maryland Secretary of State, responsible for regulating charities, many of which receive taxpayer funds, sent almost 9,000 notices for delinquent or incomplete registrations in fiscal 2025. Two of the recipients are set to receive millions of dollars from Baltimore City’s opioid restitution fund; another is an organization in which the wife of the Baltimore Mayor is listed as an executive. Source: BaltimoreSun.com