Because of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, state governments put into practice their own legislation concerning government record transparency, as a result of Maryland’s Public Information Act, which celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2001, locals of Ashton-Sandy Spring can take advantage of transparency within their municipality. This information contain names, dates, information on situations, sentences, procedures and more, and are also all assumed public unless otherwise stated. Both law enforcement and offenders are able to be held responsible because of their actions as a consequence of these laws, which give the citizenry with the resources they need to look into concerns independent of their governing administration.