Welcome to the Office of the Public Access Ombudsman
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Created in 2016, the Office of the Public Access Ombudsman is an independent state agency headed by the Public Access Ombudsman (“Ombudsman"), tasked with making reasonable attempts to help applicants/requesters and records custodians/agencies resolve disputes arising from requests made under the Maryland Public Information Act (“PIA") (§ 4-1B-04 of the General Provisions Article). While independent from the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG"), the Attorney General appoints the Ombudsman to a 4-year term and OAG provides resources and staff support for the Ombudsman. Lisa A. Kershner, Esq., is the current Public Access Ombudsman.
If you have an issue involving a PIA request and want to request dispute resolution assistance from the Ombudsman, please click here
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The Ombudsman also offers free PIA training to the public and custodians. To request training, please
click here.
