Maryland Public Information Act Requests

Generally

To review or obtain copies of University of Maryland records, you must make a written request under Maryland’s Public Information Act (“PIA”). The Maryland PIA, which gives the public the right to review and obtain copies of disclosable public records, is found in the General Provisions Article, §§4-101 through 4-601, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, and accessible through the Maryland State Law Library at www.lawlib.state.md.us.

To Submit a Request

For Electronic Requests
To make your request electronically, you must submit the electronic form.

For U.S. Mail Requests
You also may make a PIA request by U.S. mail or by other land carriers. To make your request by US mail, you must provide the following:

Name
US street address
City
Zip code
Specify the records that you are requesting
Telephone number
Email address

Please mail your request to:

The Office of General Counsel
Attn: Public Information Request
2101 Main Administration Building
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, Maryland 20742

Processing Electronic and U.S. Mail Requests

1. Requests can be received only when the University is open. Upon receipt, the University will perform a preliminary assessment of your request to determine if the University is the appropriate custodian of the records. The University will also review the request for completeness.

2. The PIA, at Section 4-206, permits the University to charge for the search, preparation and reproduction of a public record to be made available for inspection—excluding the first two hours of work. Copies of the records will be provided upon payment of an additional fee of $0.25 per page.

3. To offer the most efficient customer service, the University requires payment for any estimated amount due before the work is performed. The search, preparation and copying process will begin upon receipt of the total estimated fee. If the actual fee differs from the estimate, the fee will be adjusted accordingly, and you will receive an additional bill or refund as appropriate.

4. Please make your money order or check payable to the "University of Maryland" and send it to the Office of General Counsel at the address above. You may also hand-deliver this payment. The University does not accept cash through the mail, credit cards, or PayPal.

5. If the University does not receive your payment within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of our reply, it will presume that you are no longer interested in pursuing your request and close the file accordingly. To obtain the documents, you must submit a new request.

6. Persons who disagree with any response to a PIA request, may seek review of the decision in accordance with Section 4-362 of the PIA.

7. Comments or questions may be directed to: PublicInformationAct@umd.edu

Public Information Contact
Name: Ms. L. Wright
Address: Office of General Counsel,
University of Maryland, College Park
2117 Seneca Bldg.,
College Park, MD 20742

Phone: 301-405-4945
Email: PublicInformationAct@umd.edu
To e-File: www.umd.edu/pia

This page was last updated on January 14, 2016.