The Public Transparency Fund at Radio Free Hub City is dedicated to promoting open government by addressing financial barriers to accessing public information. Governments often charge fees for records requests, which can hinder efforts to shed light on their activities. While appeals are possible in some cases, paying these fees is often the fastest and most practical way to obtain critical information instead of waiting months for appeals and disputes.
Our fund supports investigative journalism and civic engagement by covering these costs, ensuring that financial constraints don’t obstruct the public’s right to know. By tracking and documenting instances where governments require payment for transparency, we aim to highlight systemic barriers and advocate for greater accountability. Your support for the Public Transparency Fund empowers Radio Free Hub City to uncover the truth and keep our community informed.
These contributions go into a special fund outside of our normal operating expenses, and are used only for these purposes. We are committed to transparency in the contributions and usage of these funds. Each open request currently has a contribution option, and if any requests are “over-funded” the excess funds will be transferred to the reserve fund. If you have a specific request you’d like to see funded, please locate it in the following table, or if you’d simply like to contribute to our efforts in this area, please use the “contribute” button below.
Current reserve fund balance as of 1/30/2026: $75.00
Note that current reserve fund and fund contributions are updated manually and not real-time.
Requests for Funding
Request ID
Purpose
Deposit Needed
Total Amount Needed
Funding Contributed
WashCo MD 25-321 & 25-359
8/23/2025
Provide transparency on why Washington County never responded to resident concern emails over an 18 month period regarding website access issues
$150.00
TBD
$75.00
as of 9/19/2025
CANCELLED: This request was cancelled after finding a better method of obtaining root cause of the problem at the County level.
WashCo Sheriff, MD DPSCS, DHS ICE
12/10/2025
Provide clarity on ICE announcements of criminal illegal aliens arrested in Hagerstown, MD, and determine how many were arrested in community vs county detention or Maryland corrections
TBD
TBD
FOIA request submitted to DHS
MPIA submitted to WashCo Sheriff, MD DPSCS
Fee waiver was requested but may not be granted if need full records instead of statistics
ICE Warehouse Related Requests
The following are requests we have submitted to DHS-ICE, Washington County and City of Hagerstown regarding the “ICE Warehouse”. We will update with any projected costs.
| Request Target | Primary Objective | Key Data Points Requested |
| Washington County Planning & Zoning | The “Silence Gap” | Internal emails/Teams messages between Jan 14–28 explaining why the DHS letter was withheld from the public for two weeks. Washington County “playing word games” with our request, new request had to be opened. Details here. |
| Washington County Business Development | The Paper Trail | Communications with the seller (FRIND-Hopewell/RSE Capital) Still pending and records of any tax incentives or grants tied to the warehouse construction. No tax incentives or discounts, source document here |
| Washington County Engineering | Infrastructure Load | “Will-Serve” letters and utility assessments for sewage/water capacity to support 1,500+ occupants. |
| City of Hagerstown Utilities | Resource Allocation | Engineering inquiries regarding city-provided water/sewer service to the site and joint planning with the County. Complete – no responsive records |
| DHS-ICE | National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessment (EA) or Categorical Exclusion (CATEX) | National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) records associated with the proposed facility |
| DHS-ICE | Tribal Consultation & Section 106 Administrative Record | The potential failure to consult with federally recognized tribes regarding the disposition of ancestral lands in Washington County is a matter of significant public concern. |
| DHS-ICE | Congressional Notifications, Reprogramming Notifications, and Spend Plans | Specifically, the public has a right to know if the agency followed statutory requirements to notify Congress before expending significant taxpayer funds on a controversial unbudgeted facility in Washington County. |
Fund Transactions
Note that current reserve fund, fund contributions, and fund expenditures are updated manually and not real-time.
| Date | Amount | Purpose |
| 6/16/2024 | $25.00 | General contribution |
| 9/18/2025 | -$25.00 | General contribution allocated to WashCo MD 25-321 |
| 9/19/2025 | $50.00 | General contribution |
| 9/19/2025 | -$50.00 | General contribution allocated to WashCo MD 25-321 |
| 11/3/2025 | $75.00 | Allocated WashCo MD 25-321 back to General Contribution after closing 25-321 |
