Inspector general records bill headed to public hearing, vote after exposing sharp divide on county council

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — Less than a year after Howard County established an independent watchdog, a bill that would further ensure the office's direct access to records has exposed a rift within the outgoing county council.

Council Bill 69, introduced by District 4 Councilmember Deb Jung, would establish the inspector general as the custodian of records. A public hearing is set for Monday, October 19th at 7 p.m. and a vote is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30.

That's the final voting session of this current council, ahead of November's election.

The legislation follows IG Kelly Madigan's testimony in September that her office had received 97 complaints so far, but could not move forward with all of them, including ones requiring access to personnel records.

Jung argued this is exactly why the bill is needed.

"She had a number of claims that she had to dismiss simply because she didn't have access to records. That's not what we want for our inspector general. We passed an inspector general bill in order to ensure that [they]could ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse, and if her hands are tied behind her back, then she will not be able to do so," Jung said.

The bill nearly didn't make it to a public hearing. After a terse discussion among council members earlier this month, Chair Opel Jones' motion to prevent it from moving forward failed 3 to 2.

Records access for Maryland inspectors general has taken center stage this year with the legal battle in Baltimore City.
Courts have ruled that the Maryland Public Information Act does not restrict or conflict with IG subpoenas.

Howard County Delegate Chao Wu is also working on a remedy at the state level for the next legislative session.

Jones cited that pending state-level work as one reason he felt the bill was unnecessary, along with concerns that the bill was not legally sufficient.

"I don't believe that the inspector general should have unfettered access. I think that the inspector general should have the direct access that she currently has. She's never been barred from any kind of information," Jones said. "To have the narrative that her hands are tied behind her back or she can't get information is totally false."

District 3 Councilwoman Christiana Rigby, who also voted to reject the bill's introduction, said the issue went beyond records access.

"My concern now is about a pattern of behavior towards Black men in leadership," Rigby said.

Jones agreed.

"I can absolutely speak to the fact that there are definitely racial undertones from Councilmember Jung and other elected officials that go after unfairly elected officials of color," Jones said.

In a statement to WMAR-2 News, Jung calls their claims "meritless" and "a distraction from the issue at hand."

See her full statement below:

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