constitutional-law us-constitution maryland due-process sixth-amendment
Does the sixth amendment entitle me to know who called the county on me for a code violation?
<p>Is my accuser the person who petitioned the county to investigate a code violation?</p>

<p>The Sixth Amendment states that &quot;In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy... the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him&quot;. You are not being criminally prosecuted, so the Sixth Amendment simply does not apply.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confrontation_Clause" rel="noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confrontation_Clause</a></p>

<p>It depends on whether you were cited for the violation and the nature of the violation.</p>
<p>Contrary to the other answers here, building-code violations in Maryland can, in fact, be criminal offenses, civil offenses, or both. <em>See, e.g.</em>, <a href="https://library.municode.com/md/baltimore_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=ART35BUHO_TIT2BU_SUBTITLE_3BUPE_S35-2-304PEACWIPE" rel="noreferrer">Baltimore Building Code § 35-2-304(b)</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) A person may not erect, construct, repair, alter, remodel, remove, or demolish a building or structure or part of a building or structure in the county without obtaining a permit.</p>
<p>(2) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.</p>
<p>(3) A person who violates this section is also subject to a civil penalty of $1,000.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you received a criminal citation, the Sixth Amendment right to confront your accuser would likely still not help. It sounds like a neighbor's complaint triggered an investigation by a county employee, who then cited you for a violation. The investigator would therefore be your accuser, not the caller.</p>
<p>However, the Sixth Amendment also includes the right to &quot;compulsory process,&quot; which would probably allow you to access records showing who the caller was. Your state's rules of criminal procedure would probably also allow you to obtain this information through Rule 16 discovery.</p>
<p>If the complaint was only civil, or if you were only issued a warning, you may have access the caller's identity through the <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/open-government-guide/maryland/" rel="noreferrer">Maryland Public Information Act</a>. Generally speaking, it entitles a citizen of the state to inspect any documents made or received by the government.</p>
<p>In the only case I know of dealing with phone records, the courts allowed the Washington Post to access phone records from the governor. While the Court restricted access to records of personal phone calls made by the governor's family at the executive residence, it generally allowed access to records that would allow the newspaper to see who had called and been called by various other officials. <a href="https://casetext.com/case/office-of-the-governor-v-washington-post-company" rel="noreferrer"><em>Office of Governor v. Washington Post Co.</em>, 360 Md. 520 (2000)</a>.</p>
<p>Applying that logic to your situation, I'd expect that records of who called the building department about a code violation would be available to you. In principle, you'd likely just need to fill out a form to request those records. In Baltimore County, that form is available <a href="http://resources.baltimorecountymd.gov/Documents/Permits/permitspiarequestform.pdf" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Is my accuser the person who petitioned the county to investigate a code violation?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No. The Sixth Amendment provides the right to know the name of anyone who is asserting to have personal knowledge of your alleged offense, if the government relies on that assertion in evaluating your guilt. If the government independently verifies the facts involved, and does not rely on the original assertion, the Sixth Amendment doesn't apply to the original complaintant. If they are relying on one or more factual assertions in the petition, that's a different matter.</p>
<p>For instance, if there's a ordinance prohibiting fences more than six feet high, and someone files a complaint saying that your fence is seven feet high, and the county sends a county employee out to measure your fence, and the employee finds that the fence is seven feet high, and the county relies on that determination to charge you with an offense, then that county employee is your accuser, not the person who filed the complaint.</p>

<p>The Sixth Amendment does not help you, but your state's Public Records law might. <a href="https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.56&amp;full=true" rel="noreferrer">This</a> is the law for Washington state. Under that state law, government records are public, with certain exceptions. So the first question is whether there is a government record of the alleged code violation. An actual letter (as opposed to an anonymous phone call) would be a disclosable record, unless there is an exemption. One exception is the &quot;invasion of privacy&quot; exemption, in case disclosure would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and not of legitimate concern to the public. Knowing that Smith filed a complain is not offensive, and knowing that Smith has a habit of filing complaints could easily be the topic of a news investigation. Records that would violate &quot;vital governmental interests&quot; can also be withheld, but secrecy of the name of a complainer is not such an interest. RCW 42.56.230 covers certain kinds of &quot;personal information&quot;, primarily school / FERPA-related and health / HIPAA-related information.
Also excluded are certain kinds of taxpayer assessment information that could put the subject at a competitive business disadvantage; financial records (e.g. credit card numbers), proof of identify such as birth certificate, SS number, information volunteered in making a 911 call. There are also exceptions in RCW 42.56.240 for information provided to law enforcement if nondisclosure is essential to effective law enforcement or protection of a witness, certain records about sex offenses, GPS data on a law enforcement officer (etc...) – none of which covers &quot;person who files a complaint against a person for code violations&quot;, and all are about criminal law enforcement as opposed to code infractions. There are very many enumerated exceptions, and none of them can, from what I can determine, shield a person who files a complaint from having their name revealed, if they identified themselves. Of course, there are 50 states, so your state may be different.</p>
