Delay, Deny, Defend Part 5 – County Uses Misleading PIA Portal Entry to Discourage Requests about DHS Emails

This is Part 4 of our series discussing Washington County Government transparency concerns. Part 1 discussed Washington County’s constructive denial of records related to the ICE Warehouse, and Part 2 discussed how the County appears to be favoring some news outlets with press requests, while stonewalling others (including this one) with cumbersome mandates to use the MPIA process which the County has constructively denied records for in Part 1. Part 3 discusses conflicting information regarding the Treasurer’s salary, and how the County’s restrictive policies prevent us from asking simple questions directly to the county. Part 4 discusses the attempts to delay or deny records related to the County’s 2022 ransomware attack.

Radio Free Hub City has initiated multiple Public Information Act (PIA) requests with Washington County Government, following observations that the county’s existing standing PIA for communications with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is misleading to residents. The existing request, designated PIA 26-71, purports to make all records sent to or from DHS and ICE by Washington County Government generally available to the public through a designated portal. However, this portal currently displays only one public record, a letter regarding the WashCo Hist District Comm, leading to a perception that no further communications have occurred.

This article was updated 3/18/2026 3:48 PM including better source attribution for Washington County communications with DHS/ICE.

This perceived lack of transparency has prompted Radio Free Hub City to file its own formal request. Despite the possibility that records have already been obtained by another requestor and should be immediately available, the county’s established policy, communicated to us by County Administrator Michelle Gordon in an email on January 28, 2026, and subsequently by the Public Relations department, mandates that information requests be submitted through the county’s PIA portal. Consequently, Radio Free Hub City will utilize this channel until official notification is received that this process is no longer in effect.

Given that the records in question were reportedly already provided to another party, the expectation is that they will be made available within the statutory 10-workday period mandated by Maryland law, but based upon the fact that Radio Free Hub City has multiple overdue requests which are beyond Maryland’s mandated 30-day window, we suspect these records too will be denied.

The request, filed under the Maryland Public Information Act, seeks to inspect all records in Washington County Government’s custody and control pertaining to communications with DHS during January 2026, with a second request for February, 2026. This includes not only direct communications but also any meeting or calendar invites exchanged with DHS within the same timeframe, as these are considered records under the Act. Radio Free Hub City has requested these records in electronic format.

This action is informed by a report from Project Salt Box, which indicated that Washington County Government has engaged in additional communications with DHS according to information provided by Hagerstown Rapid Response. The records highlighted in the Project Salt Box report are not presently included in PIA 26-71. The existence of the current, seemingly incomplete, PIA request on the county’s portal raises concerns about its intent to mislead the public into believing no further communications have taken place. Such a situation could discourage other individuals or organizations from filing similar PIA requests. The records published by Project Salt Box include communications from both January and February of 2026.

Our records regarding this matter are publicly available below.

Article by Ken Buckler, based upon public information act requests and responses from Washington County Government and Radio Free Hub City, and coverage from Project Salt Box

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