# Sec. 16-217. Departmental or agency personnel files

Codified through Bill No. CB-018-2026, adopted May 12, 2026, effective July 24, 2026. Source: Municode, Supplement 2026 Update 2. Editorial notes and legislative history omitted.

## Sec. 16-217. Departmental or agency personnel files

Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-217 (2026)

(a) Appointing authorities shall not be authorized to establish and maintain separate departmental or agency personnel files regarding employees under their respective jurisdictions without consulting the Office of Human Resources Management and following the guidance and provisions provided thereupon. All documents and records maintained in any such departmental or agency personnel file shall be maintained by the appointing authority in a confidential manner and, as such, no other persons, except those individuals specified in Section 16-216(d)(1), above, shall be permitted to inspect any such file. All documents and records pertaining to an employee's performance which are not included in the employee's performance evaluation shall be destroyed after the submission of the performance evaluation or within one year of the date the record was created.

(b) The Director of Human Resources Management shall develop personnel procedures governing the establishment, contents, maintenance, and disposition of departmental or agency personnel files. The Director of Human Resources Management shall be authorized to periodically inspect any established departmental or agency personnel files in order to insure that said files are being maintained in a manner consistent with personnel procedures.

(c) In the event that an appointing authority establishes a departmental or agency personnel file regarding any employee under the appointing authority's jurisdiction, any such employee shall be promptly notified by the appointing authority of the establishment of said personnel file. Any such employee shall be entitled to inspect the employee's file during the employee's hours of work at a time mutually agreed to by the employee and the appointing authority. Any such employee shall be entitled to file a signed statement for inclusion in the employee's file under the circumstances described in Section 16-216(d)(3) as if the employee were filing a signed statement in the employee's official personnel file.

(d) Any person, other than the employee in interest, a person authorized by the employee in interest, the Director of Human Resources Management, the appointing authority, or a person acting on behalf of the Director of Human Resources Management, who requests to review a personnel file, except those made pursuant to subpoena as a result of a criminal case, or when an employee is subject to an administrative investigation pursuant to Section 16-193, must be accompanied by a release form signed by the employee whose file is the subject of the request. When a personnel file is reviewed pursuant to subpoena, the Director of Human Resources Management shall notify the employee of the review within five (5) business days after the subpoena allows disclosure. When a personnel file is reviewed as part of an administrative investigation pursuant to Section 16-193, the Director of Human Resources Management shall notify the employee of the review 90 days after the examination of the Appointing Authority or designee conducting an investigation. If any person, including the employee in interest, a person authorized by the employee in interest, the Director of Human Resources Management or appointing authority, or a person acting on behalf of the Director of Human Resources Management examines a personnel file, the date of examination, reason for examination, and identity of the person examining the file shall be recorded in one or more logs maintained by the Director of Human Resources Management. The entry into a personnel file for the purpose of filing of records is not required to be logged.