Critic warns juveniles could be exposed as City Hall seeks broader access to records

MARYLAND (WBFF) — Juvenile records are among the most tightly sealed government documents, but Baltimore City officials are asking state lawmakers to give City Hall broader access to some of them.

At the Statehouse on Thursday, representatives from Mayor Brandon Scott’s office urged lawmakers to approve a bill that would allow the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success, and the Mayor’s Office of African American Male Engagement to access records related to juveniles who are receiving services from the city.

Stefanie Mavronis, director of MONSE, said the change “allows us to have access to those records.”

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She also said the request would be limited.

“We’re just talking about records for those referred to our office for services. Those will be the only records we would be requesting,” she noted.

Child welfare expert Maureen Flatley insists juvenile records are sealed for a reason.

“They’re not adults and not operating with the same judgment that adults do,” Flatley said.

Flatley fears allowing three city offices access to juvenile records could do more harm than good.

“Honestly, this is extremely disappointing,” she said. “And who knows? They can be accessed by predators or by people who want to put kids in a bad situation.”

Flatley said expanding access undermines the intent of the juvenile justice system.

“It defeats the purpose of a juvenile justice system as it’s been established in this country for centuries,” she said.

In 40 years of doing this work, I have never seen a public official make a request like this that is more inappropriate.”

During the Feb. 19 hearing, some lawmakers questioned how the city would access juvenile records without exposing all of them.

One lawmaker asked, “You’d obtain these records on a case by case basis, but you’d access them electronically?”

The push for greater access to juvenile records comes as the mayor’s office has restricted access to other records. When Inspector General Isabel Cumming recently inquired about spending at MONSE, she said she received 200 records that were blacked out, and access to future records was blocked.

“For anyone to say this hasn’t weakened my office okay, this has devastated my office,” Cumming said in a talk radio appearance Tuesday.

You can read Senate Bill 524 in full below: