ICAP filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) to uncover how the department handles fee waiver requests under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA). The litigation followed a 2020 records request seeking BPD’s fee waiver policies and data on who had been granted or denied waivers—information BPD initially refused to produce, claiming the records would have to be “hand-pulled.” ICAP argued that fee waivers are a critical tool for public oversight, as high fees can effectively block non-profits and journalists from accessing records on police misconduct and departmental operations.
In May 2022, ICAP reached a favorable settlement that established new transparency standards for the BPD. Under the agreement, the department provided ICAP with six months of historical fee waiver data and committed to a groundbreaking systemic change: affirmatively tracking all future fee waiver requests. BPD now records whether a waiver was sought, whether it was granted, and the total cost assessed to the requester. This victory ensures that the public can monitor BPD’s compliance with state transparency laws and hold the department accountable for how it applies public-interest criteria to its records.
