Title 29 — Subtitle 01. Office of the Secretary

Personnel grievance hearings, conferences, informal investigations, or other proceedings in which hearings are not required by law; or

Proceedings before the Department for which specific regulations governing the hearings have been adopted.

In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

Terms Defined.

Inspections.

Copies. If the applicant is requesting a copy of a public record, the custodian may require a written request by the applicant.

If the custodian decides to grant a written request for inspection, the custodian shall produce the record for inspection immediately or within a reasonable period, not to exceed 30 days from the date of the request when that period of time is needed to retrieve the information.

If the custodian decides to deny the written request, the custodian shall do so within 30 days of the written request and, immediately upon deciding to deny the request, notify the applicant of the denial.

If a requested public record is not in the custody or control of the person to whom written application is made, that person shall, within 10 working days of the receipt of the request, so notify the applicant. If that person knows the name of the custodian of the record or the location or possible location of the record, this information shall also be given to the applicant.

With the consent of the applicant, any time limit imposed by §§A—C of this regulation may be extended for an additional period not to exceed 30 days.

If a written request is denied by the custodian for a reason other than that the record is temporarily unavailable, the applicant may, within 30 days after receipt of the notice of the denial, request an administrative hearing.

If the applicant requests a hearing, the hearing shall be conducted by a hearing officer designated by the Office of Administrative Hearings in accordance with COMAR 29.01.01. The Secretary shall issue the final decision of the Department.

If the hearing results in a total or partial denial of the written request, the applicant may file an appropriate action in the circuit court under State Government Article, §10-623, Annotated Code of Maryland.

If the applicant chooses not to request a hearing under §A of this regulation, the applicant may file an action for judicial enforcement under State Government Article, §10-623, Annotated Code of Maryland, without exhausting that administrative remedy.

If, in the opinion of the Secretary, disclosure of a public record that is otherwise required to be disclosed under the Act would do substantial injury to the public interest, the Secretary may temporarily deny the request in writing and apply within 10 working days of the denial to the appropriate circuit court for an order permitting continued denial or restriction of access.

Notice of the application filed with the circuit court shall be served on the applicant in the same manner that is provided for service of process by the Maryland Rules of Procedure.

Fee Schedule.

Notwithstanding §A of this regulation, if the fee for copies, printouts, photographs, or certified copies of a record are specifically prescribed by a law other than the Act or this regulation, the prescribed fee shall be charged.

If the custodian is unable to copy a record within the Department, the custodian shall make arrangements for the prompt reproduction of the record at public or private facilities outside the Department. The custodian shall either collect from the applicant a fee to cover the actual cost of reproduction or direct the applicant to pay the cost of reproduction direct to the facility making the copy.

Before copying a record, the custodian shall estimate the cost of reproduction and either obtain the agreement of the applicant to pay the cost or demand prepayment of any estimated fee before reproducing the record.

Except as provided in §F of this regulation, the official custodian may charge reasonable fees for official or employee time expended searching for requested records or for any time expended preparing records for inspection and copying.

The official custodian may not charge any search or preparation fee for the first 2 hours of official or employee time that is needed to respond to a request for information.

Upon request, the official custodian may waive or reduce any fee charged pursuant to this regulation if the custodian determines that the waiver or reduction is in the public interest. The official custodian shall consider, among other relevant factors, the ability of the applicant to pay the cost or fee.

If the applicant requests that copies be mailed or delivered to the applicant, the custodian may charge the applicant for the cost of postage or delivery to the applicant.

This chapter sets out procedures to implement State Government Article, §10-625, Annotated Code of Maryland, for persons in interest to request the correction or amendment of personal records in the Department of State Police.

This chapter does not apply to criminal history record information as defined in Criminal Procedure Article, §10-201, Annotated Code of Maryland. Procedures for correction or amendment of criminal history record information are provided under Criminal Procedure Article, §10-224, Annotated Code of Maryland.

Identify the personal records the person is seeking to correct or amend;

State the precise correction or amendment requested;

State the reason the correction or amendment is sought; and

Include a statement that the personal records are to the person's belief currently inaccurate or incomplete.

Make the requested correction or amendment and inform the person in writing of the action;

Inform the person in writing of:

Inform the person in writing that the request will not be acted on because:

The requested correction or amendment; and

Disagreement with the Department's refusal to make the correction or amendment.

A person may request an administrative review within the Department, by filing a request for review with the Secretary, if the person has been denied:

A request for review shall be filed within 30 days of the date the person is advised of the Department's action.

The review proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 2, Annotated Code of Maryland, and the administrative hearing regulations of the Department outlined in COMAR 29.01.01.

In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

Terms Defined.

If the Referring Agency, through an audit, inspection, or investigation, determines that a facility is not in compliance with the Hazardous Material Security Act, Environment Article, Title 7, Subtitle 7, Annotated Code of Maryland, or COMAR 26.27.01, the Referring Agency shall refer each violation to the Department for enforcement.

The Referring Agency’s written referral shall:

Upon receipt of the Referring Agency’s written referral, the Secretary shall give notice of the violation and civil penalty assessed against a facility to a person by any method allowed for service of a summons under the Maryland Rules.

The notice of violation shall contain:

Records deemed confidential by law shall be handled as confidential.

In addition to any other remedies available by law or in equity, the Department may impose a civil penalty against a person who violates the Hazardous Material Security Act, Title 7, Subtitle 7 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, or COMAR 26.27.01.

The civil penalty may not exceed $1,000 per violation.

Each day a violation occurs is a separate offense.

A civil penalty imposed is payable to the Maryland Community Right-to-Know Fund under COMAR 26.26.01 and collected in a manner provided at law for the collection of debts.

The Department may refer debts to the Central Collection Unit of the Department of Budget and Management in accordance with State Finance and Procurement Article, Title 3, Subtitle 3, Annotated Code of Maryland.

If a person who is liable to pay a penalty fails to pay after a demand for penalty is made by the Department, the amount, together with any interest and any costs that may accrue, shall be:

After receiving written notice from the Department of the violation and penalty assessed against the facility, a person may submit a written appeal to the Secretary within 30 calendar days from receipt of the written notice of violation.

If a person fails to submit a written appeal to the Department within 30 calendar days of receipt of the written notice of violation, the person is deemed to have waived all rights to an appeal and the proposed action and assessed civil penalty shall both become final.

If the person timely submits a written appeal to the Secretary, the Secretary will transfer the written appeal to the Office of Administrative Hearings for a hearing in accordance with the Department’s administrative hearing regulations under COMAR 29.01.01.01.

A hearing before an Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the following:

In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

Terms Defined.

A petition for Declaratory Ruling shall be filed in writing and clearly marked to indicate that it is being filed pursuant to this regulation. It shall describe in detail:

A petition for Declaratory Ruling shall include the petitioner’s:

The Secretary shall consider the petition and may, at his discretion, issue the declaratory ruling requested. The Secretary may require argument on the petition. Any declaratory ruling issued shall plainly state that it is a declaratory ruling pursuant to this regulation. A written answer from the Secretary or any employee of the Department to an inquiry may not be construed to be a declaratory ruling unless made in conformity with this regulation.

As to the petitioner, a declaratory ruling shall be binding upon the Secretary as to any transaction covered thereby, entered into before the date of the declaratory ruling, and any transaction entered into in reliance upon the declaratory ruling unless, after the issuance of the declaratory ruling and before any affected transaction, a change in the legal basis of the declaratory ruling is made by statute, regulation, or judicial decision. With prospective effect only, a declaratory ruling may be revoked, altered, or amended by the Secretary, at any time.

The Secretary may publish declaratory rulings of general interest, subject to protection of the identity of the petitioner and any confidential information contained in the petition for declaratory ruling.