Baltimore City offices ask to reauthorize limited juvenile-record access; committee probes data-breach safeguards

Elijah Clark presented Senate Bill 524 on behalf of Senator Washington and the Baltimore City administration, asking the House Judiciary Committee to reauthorize a carve'out permitting three Baltimore City mayor's offices to access police and court juvenile records for use in individualized treatment planning.

"This legislation . . . authorizes the Baltimore City mayor's office of neighborhood safety and engagement, the Baltimore City Mayor's Office of Children And Family Success, and the Baltimore City mayor's office of African American male engagement to access and confidentially use the police records and court records of the youth they serve," Clark said. He said access would be limited to records needed to develop a comprehensive treatment plan and that offices would be liable for any unauthorized release.

Chanel White, chief of staff at the mayor's office of neighborhood safety and engagement, described operational safeguards: access limited to a small, trained cohort (a youth opportunity coordinator, that person's supervisor, two data'team members, the director and chief of staff), system protections to prevent unauthorized access and scheduling practices so at least one authorized person is available when needed.

Committee members pressed for specifics: how training would be implemented, who covers duties when authorized staff are absent, and whether the office will track recidivism using juvenile'record indicators. White said the office partners with the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) and performs follow'up checks on youth engaged in the program; she said new arrests after the monitoring window would generally be identified through family contacts rather than automated record queries.

Witnesses said the statute previously contained a carve'out dating to at least 2013 that sunset on Sept. 30, 2025; the bill is intended to reauthorize those interactions and to formalize an MOU with DJS and parental consent requirements after DJS asked for narrower scope language.

Several delegates raised security concerns. The panel acknowledged a prior data breach in which roughly 700 juvenile records were exposed; witnesses said that event occurred within the last two years (the agency later specified April 2023 in response to questioning), the employee involved is no longer employed, and the office has since implemented a new case-management system, restricted access, and added procedures, training and oversight. Committee members asked for written confirmation of any change in the judiciary'office'of'position status; the sponsor said he would forward an email indicating the Maryland judiciary was taking no position after amendments.

Members also asked about the agency's budgets, oversight and an October OIG report that cited weaknesses in case planning and data collection. Witnesses said the city's office has taken steps to address the OIG'identified gaps and that the agency's budget is roughly $17 million with about 40 employees (witness later corrected an earlier founding-date statement from December 2022 to December 2023).

The committee did not vote on the measure during the sponsor'only hearing and requested follow'up documentation on the judiciary'office correspondence and details about the prior breach and remedial measures.

What's next: The sponsor offered to provide the committee with written confirmation about the judiciary's stance and additional details about the breach and technical safeguards.