101 College Parkway | Arnold, Maryland 21012-1895 | 410-777-AACC (2222) | www.aacc.

edu

March 3, 2023

Via Email at 141024-97217131@requests.muckrock.com

Deborah Levi
Maryland Office of Public Defender
201 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Re: Public Information Act Request

Dear Ms. Levi:

Anne Arundel Community College (“College”) has received your fax dated February 22,
2023 in which you request certain records under the Maryland Public Information Act, Md. Code
Ann. Gen. Prov. § 4-101 et seq. (“PIA”). In particular, you have requested:

1. The following information for every sworn officer and civilian member of the
Anne Arundel County Community College Public Safety & Police for fiscal year 2022:
a. First and last name;
b. Unique sequence number;
c. Race;
d. Gender;
e. Hire date;
f. 2022 salary;
g. 2022 overtime.

The College is in the process of collecting and reviewing the records in our custody that are
responsive to your request to determine whether they are, in whole or in part, exempt from
disclosure under the PIA.

The College receives many of requests each year. I write now to advise you that it will
take us more than ten (10) business days to produce the records and to explain the reason for the
delay. We take each request seriously and work to fulfill each request promptly. In order to
determine whether the records are subject to disclosure, the records must be collected and
reviewed. Accordingly, I do not know yet whether any or all of the records are subject to or
exempt from disclosure. If any records will be withheld, I will provide an explanation of the
reason(s) for withholding information. Delay in providing materials in this instance is likely to
occur for the following reasons:
 You are seeking materials located in different offices across a large, decentralized
campus.
 A high volume of information has been requested in response to reasonable electronic
searches for responsive documents, which need to be reviewed to determine whether
the records meet the criteria of your request.
  The College will be closed March 20-26 and employees will not be available to
process your request.
 Legal counsel must review the records to determine whether they are, in whole or in
part, exempt from disclosure under the PIA.

The College is denying access to information that is covered by PIA § 4-311, which
authorizes the withholding of public records referring or relating to personnel records.
Specifically, access to records relating to hiring, discipline, promotion, dismissal, or any other
matter involving an employee’s status, is denied. Your request for records containing the “hire
date” for sworn officers and civilian members is denied.

Furthermore, under PIA § 4-301(a), “a custodian shall deny inspection of a public record
or any part of a public record if: (1) by law, the public record is privileged or confidential; or (2)
the inspection would be contrary to: (i) a State statute…” Md. Code, St. Gov’t., § 10-1304(a),
which applies to public institutions of higher education provides: “To protect personal
information from unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure, a unit that collects
personal information of an individual shall implement and maintain reasonable security
procedures and practices that are appropriate to the nature of the personal information collected
and the nature of the unit and its operations.” The definition of “Personal information” includes
“an individual's first name or first initial and last name….in combination with one or more of the
following data elements:…other individual identification number issued by a unit.” Employee
identification numbers are issued by the College, and thus, are not subject to disclosure under the
College’s security procedures and practices, in accordance with State law. Additionally, this
information is protected from disclosure under the personnel exception. See PIA § 4-311. Your
request for records containing the “unique sequence number”, “gender” and “race” for sworn
officers and civilian members is denied.

To the extent applicable, there are judicial review remedies available pursuant to PIA § 4-
362. Further, the Public Information Act Compliance Board has jurisdiction to review certain
complaints pursuant to PIA § 4-1A-01, et seq. Additionally, the Public Access Ombudsman may
resolve disputes relating to PIA requests pursuant to PIA § 4-1B-01, et seq. Please do not
hesitate to contact me at complianceofficer@aacc.edu or 410-777-1239 if you have any
questions or concerns regarding the processing of your request.

Sincerely,

Tiffany F. Boykin, Esq.

Chief Compliance and Fair Practices Officer