We applaud Attorney General Doug Gansler for making government transparency a priority in his administration.
Earlier this month he issued an opinion outlining why mug shots of criminals are open to the people. This means they should be released and treated like other open public records, including complaints and police records.
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A mug shot, he said, “should be treated as an investigatory record of the police department. Thus, it should be disclosed in response to a Public Information Act request unless itdetermines that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.”
His predecessor, Joseph Curran, dilly dallied for two years over the issue, first raised by former Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens with Curran on behalf of the county police department.
Common sense and common practice could have speeded the process as other jurisdictions in the state regularly release photos. We don?t understand why a formal request had to be made other than to thwart the public for however long it would take for the Attorney General?s office to make a decision.
But we do not find Anne Arundel?s behavior surprising. When we sent a PIA request for the salaries and overtime of Anne Arundel County government employees, official response was: For $113,000 to $172,000 you can have the information. All other governments in our coverage area submitted the information free of charge. Anne Arundel officials have not changed their mind.
Their response shows county officials do not value transparency. But this opinion must change their attitude and that of all local Maryland governments wary of releasing public records. While it addresses a narrow issue ? mug shots ? it clearly shows Gansler?s interpretation of the PIA to mean governments owe citizens not just the letter of the PIA law but the spirit of it.
As Gansler writes in the preface to the PIA manual, “The public?s right to information about government activities lies at the heart of a democratic government.” Local governments could show their commitment to this right by electronically publishing all open public records instead of selectively releasing information upon request.
