Plain Text Law

Chapter 06. Confidential Records or Information Provided Under COMAR 14.02.05.03

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Regulation .01 General Confidentiality Provisions.Copy Citation

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A.
Records or Information Received by the Board.
(1)
A record or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 is not a public record of the Board subject to inspection under the Act.
(2)
A complaint, the response, and a reply to the response received by the Board are public records of the Board subject to inspection under the Act.
B.
The Board shall maintain the confidentiality of a record or information received by the Board from a custodian pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03.

Regulation .02 Provision of Confidential Records or Information.Copy Citation

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A.
Records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 may be sent by regular mail, certified mail, email, or hand-delivery.
B.
Records or information sent to the Board under this regulation shall contain an inspection index.
C.
Each individual record or information sent to the Board under this regulation shall be Bates numbered consecutively and correspond to the numbers as listed in the index.

Regulation .03 Storage of Confidential Records or Information.Copy Citation

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A.
Hardcopy records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 shall be stored on behalf of the Board in a locked file of the Public Access Unit of the Office of the Attorney General.
B.
Electronic records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 shall be stored on behalf of the Board in a secure electronic file.

Regulation .04 Access to Confidential Records or Information.Copy Citation

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A.
Only the Board, an Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Public Access Unit, the administrator to the Board, and individuals working under the supervision and at the direction of the staff of the Public Access Unit may inspect records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03.
B.
The individuals listed in §A of this regulation shall safeguard the confidentiality of records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03.

Regulation .05 Reference to Confidential Records or Information.Copy Citation

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References in the Board’s decision to specific records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 shall be by the Bates numbers or by generic descriptions or characterizations as set forth in the inspection index.

Regulation .06 Return or Destruction of Confidential Records or Information.Copy Citation

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A.
No Appeal of Board Decision Filed.
(1)
After 45 days from the issuance of the Board’s decision, the Board shall notify the custodian to make appropriate arrangements for the return of all records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03.
(2)
Destruction of Records or Information.
(a)
If a custodian fails to make arrangements for the return of records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03, the Board shall destroy the records or information after 90 days from the issuance of the Board’s decision.
(b)
Destruction of electronic records or information shall be accomplished by deleting the records or information from email and the internal network drive of the Public Access Unit.
(c)
Destruction of hardcopy records or information shall be accomplished by shredding the records.
B.
Appeal of Board Decision Filed.
(1)
The Board shall continue to store records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 according to Regulation .03 of this chapter.
(2)
Once the opinion of the circuit court has issued, the Board shall return or destroy the records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03 according to the time periods provided in §A of this regulation.

Regulation .07 Effect of Providing Confidential Records or Information.Copy Citation

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A.
A custodian may not be civilly or criminally liable under Maryland law for providing or describing a public record to the Board under General Provisions Article, §4-1A-06(b), Annotated Code of Maryland.
B.
The provision of a record or a description of a record to the Board under General Provisions Article, §4-1A-06(b), Annotated Code of Maryland, may not be construed as a waiver of any applicable privilege.

Regulation .08 Record on Appeal.Copy Citation

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A.
The Board shall prepare and transmit the record in accordance with the Maryland Rules.
B.
The Board shall transmit any part of the record that contains records or information received by the Board pursuant to COMAR 14.02.05.03, or that are otherwise not open to public inspection, under seal.
Chapter annotations
Authority: General Provisions Article, §§4-101(k), 4-1A-04(c), and 4-1A-06(b), Annotated Code of Maryland
History: Effective date: June 13, 2022 (49:12 Md. R. 641)