Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is further restricting access to city files for Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming, citing advice received from an attorney with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.

Direct access to all city files that contain protected information, such as personnel records and financial information, was severed for Cumming and her staff as of Friday morning. Those records are protected under the Maryland Public Information Act, which Assistant Attorney General Shaunee L. Harrison found the inspector general to be subject to.

Baltimore’s inspector general is responsible for investigating waste, fraud and abuse within city government.

The move comes several weeks after the Scott administration announced it was terminating access to city legal records for Cumming’s team. The administration said it discovered Cumming’s staff had “unfettered” access to city legal documents, a violation of attorney-client and work product privileges.

Cumming has waged a public campaign against the decision in the days since, arguing that her team has had the same direct access to city files, including those created and maintained by the Law Department, for her entire eight-year tenure with the city.

Scott’s decision to sever access has hampered her ability to investigate, she said at the time.

A letter from Solicitor Ebony Thompson, distributed by the Scott administration Friday, said the city was legally bound to immediately implement the freeze on access.

“Failure to do so would constitute a knowing and willful violation of the MPIA [Maryland Public Information Act] now that the City is in receipt of the AG’s [attorney general’s] guidance,” she wrote.

Scott said in a statement that the actions were taken “reluctantly” and “not decided lightly.”

“They are intended solely to ensure the city comes into compliance with state law to ensure the integrity of investigations and limit liability,” he said.

Cumming was not immediately available to comment.

State Sen. Antonio Hayes sought the legal advice for legislation being considered by the state Senate about the Baltimore County inspector general’s jurisdiction. Hayes, who shared the advice with city officials, asked whether inspectors general can access records that must be kept confidential under the Maryland Public Information Act.

Baltimore’s charter grants the city inspector general subpoena power to summon city records for investigations. The Maryland Public Information Act is a state law.

“In my view, a local law or charter provision may not authorize or require a local custodian of records to disclose a record that is covered by one of the PIA’s mandatory exceptions to disclosure,” Harrison wrote.

Protected records under the Maryland Public Information Act are voluminous. Some records, such as financial information and personnel files, must be withheld. Other records can be withheld on a discretionary basis such as investigatory records, real estate appraisals, certain 911 calls and some records related to public security.

Baltimore has cited some of these exemptions in the past when redacting files provided to the inspector general, which has also prompted outcry from Cumming and her allies.

Last year, Cumming subpoenaed records maintained by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, which spearheads Scott’s holistic crime fighting program. The city’s response, delivered in January, was heavily redacted. Invoices included in the documents have the payee blacked out.

Cumming posted photos of the mass redactions on social media.

“Everything we have is taxpayer money,” Cumming told The Banner last week. “These are not our computers. These are taxpayer computers. They just cut off the taxpayers’ oversight entity.”

In her letter, Thompson, Baltimore’s solicitor, argued that the measures would not weaken the inspector general’s investigations, but instead “strengthen the city’s ability to defend them.”

Scott said the Law Department extended an offer to work with the advisory board that oversees Cumming to write new guidance for the office’s work. The board meets next week.

“There should be no confusion, debate, or doubt about the parameters of the OIG’s work, and the people of Baltimore deserve to know that the Inspector General is operating in a way that is lawful and above reproach,” he said.