Overview
- A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ordered the city to restore the inspector general’s direct access to city servers within 48 hours and to comply with outstanding subpoenas within 45 days.
- Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming filed a civil-contempt motion on Monday accusing Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration of willfully missing the court deadline and asking for daily fines until access is restored.
- Mayor Scott posted emails showing his team working with the OIG’s staff and denied intentional noncompliance while the city says it has been coordinating technical steps to restore access.
- The city asked the Appellate Court for a protective order to limit OIG access during the appeal, arguing it cannot reliably segregate attorney-client and work-product files and that screening more than 2 million pages would cost millions of dollars.
- The OIG opposed the protective order, citing the circuit judge’s finding that the OIG uses safeguards to protect privileged material, and national watchdogs say the case could set a precedent for how local inspectors general access records and conduct investigations.