Maryland Sample Letter for Request for Corporate Information
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Maryland's Public Information Act (PIA) grants the people of this State a broad right of access to public records while protecting legitimate governmental interests and the privacy rights of individual citizens. Requests for public records always begin with a government agency (State, county, or municipal).
The Maryland Public Information Act (PIA) governs the inspection and copying of public records held by state and local government agencies. The PIA is similar in some respects to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which governs the disclosure of documents held by U.S. government agencies.
The department has 30 days to either grant or deny the request. Exempt: Information that invades individual privacy; trade secrets; public policy development memos; and investigative materials. Visit, Maryland Sample FOIA Request, to view a sample FOIA request for the state.
Generally provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information except to the extent the records are protected from disclosure by any of nine exemptions contained in the law or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions.
FOIA applies to records created by federal agencies and does not cover records held by Congress, the courts, or state and local government agencies. Each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records.