As Baltimore officials are embroiled in a legal fight over inspector general access to municipal records for investigations, Montgomery County is facing its own transparency battle.

Montgomery County Inspector General Megan Limarzi says a routine request for a record related to an investigation was denied. Limarzi said this had never happened before.

Although Limarzi declined to elaborate on the record her office sought because it relates to an ongoing investigation, she said the type of record is one she has frequently received without issue.

“This is something that we’ve previously been provided without question,” Limarzi said. “I don’t know what the full effect is going to be of this denial and similar denials in the future.”

Limarzi said the county attorney’s office cited an exemption to the Maryland Public Information Act.

Scott Peterson, spokesperson for the county attorney’s office, wrote in an email statement Thursday: “We are very committed to transparency. We deny records when required to do so by state law; this includes access to personnel records.”

Last week, Limarzi wrote a letter to the General Assembly asking for legislators to consider amending the state public records law to make it easier for inspectors general to obtain records necessary to their investigations.

Inspectors general in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Howard County co-signed the letter as a response to an advice letter from the Office of the Attorney General to Sen. Antonio Hayes, who represents Baltimore in the General Assembly.

The letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General Shaunee Harrison, said local laws or provisions, including those giving inspectors general investigative power, cannot preempt the exemptions to the state’s public records law.

“Fundamental to our work is having unrestricted access to all relevant records held by our local jurisdictions,” the letter from the inspectors general says. “As a result of the OAG’s letter, such records could be withheld from us in whole or redacted to the point that they are essentially rendered useless from an evidentiary standpoint.”

Maryland’s inspector general offices field complaints about wasteful spending, fraud and misconduct in government, then investigate and publicly report their findings. Limarzi received 378 calls to her hotline last year.

The attorney general’s advice letter was the result of an ongoing fight between Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming and Mayor Brandon Scott over withheld city documents. Following the release of the letter, Cumming took the issue to court.

The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Late last month, Scott’s staff announced it was cutting access to city legal records for Cumming’s team after it discovered a member of her staff had “unfettered” access to a city attorney’s documents. The administration argued the access violated the attorney-client and work product privileges.

Last week, the Scott administration announced it was further restricting Cumming’s access to a swath of documents in response to legal advice it received from the attorney general’s office. The state public records law bars public entities from releasing certain records, such as personnel and financial information. Record holders have the discretion to withhold other records, such as those related to investigations.

Although that issue may be reaching a boiling point, Limarzi said her records denial has “nothing to do with Baltimore.” She called it “serendipity” that she was denied a request under the public records law at the same time Cumming is facing a similar hurdle. She said the county attorney’s office isn’t doing anything wrong, under state law, but she’s concerned the way the law is enforced will make investigations more difficult.

“I think that someone paused and raised the issue to the county attorney’s office,” Limarzi said. “Now, why someone paused and raised that question, I have no idea, but they did. So that’s where we are.”

Limarzi said she’s spoken with members of the General Assembly who are interested in the issue but no one has filed legislation to change the law.

Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Dist. 18), who represents Montgomery County in the state Senate, said Thursday it could be tricky to get new legislation over the line this session. Bills filed earlier in the session, which concludes April 7, generally have a better shot at becoming law.

However, Waldstreicher said he agrees with the inspectors general that there needs to be a “legislative fix.”

“My sense is that there will likely be discussions at the highest level of leadership, on both the House and Senate side, about whether this needs to be included in some other legislation that it can be attached to,” he said.

County Council President Natali Fani-González said she hopes the legislature will address this.

“Providing the Office of the Inspector General with all the tools necessary to conduct proactive investigations of fraud, waste and abuse is an essential part of good government,” she said. “Our residents and our taxpayers deserve nothing less.”

Meanwhile, Limarzi is concerned about the implications of what has happened and whether it will happen again.

“We can already identify limitations that are going to be impactful and are going to limit our ability to do the job I’ve been hired to do,” she said.

Banner reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article.