Maryland does not have a single Inspector General. The state runs several independent Inspector General offices, each with jurisdiction over a defined slice of state government: one for public education, one for the Department of Health, and an agency-level office inside the Department of Human Services. If you want to report fraud, waste, or abuse, the first thing to figure out is which office actually has authority over the entity you’re concerned about. Filing with the wrong one delays everything.
The Offices and What Each One Covers
Each office is set up to be independent from the agency it monitors, so the people investigating problems don’t answer to the people creating them. The three you’re most likely to deal with are described below.
Office of the Inspector General for Education
The Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education (OIGE) oversees county school boards, local school systems, public schools, nonpublic schools that receive state funding, the State Department of Education, and the Interagency Commission on School Construction.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Education 9.10-104 – Duties of Inspector General It handles complaints about fraud or abuse of public education funds, civil rights violations affecting students or employees, failures in child abuse reporting procedures, and noncompliance with state or federal law. A nonpublic school that receives no state money falls outside its authority.
Office of the Inspector General for Health
The Office of the Inspector General for Health is an independent unit within the Maryland Department of Health, established under the Health-General Article.2Maryland Department of Health. The Office of the Inspector General It investigates fraud, waste, misuse of departmental funds, threats to public safety, and conduct reflecting negligence or malfeasance within the Department of Health.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Health – General Code Section 2-503
This office has stronger investigative tools than most people expect. The Inspector General or a designated assistant can issue subpoenas, administer oaths, and compel testimony or the production of evidence, and can go to court to force compliance if a subpoena is ignored.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Health – General Code Section 2-503 It also coordinates closely with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and refers cases when a preliminary investigation supports doing so. In fiscal year 2024 the office recovered $8.3 million from fraudulent or erroneous Medicaid payments.4Maryland Department of Health. Office of the Inspector General for Health Annual Report FY2024
Department of Human Services Inspector General
The Department of Human Services runs its own Inspector General office, which protects the integrity of DHS programs through independent audits, reviews, and investigations.5Maryland Department of Human Services. Office of the Inspector General It handles welfare recipient fraud, employee misconduct inside DHS, and contractor waste or abuse. It operates separately from the education and health offices, with its own intake forms and contact lines.
What These Offices Investigate
Across all three, the core categories are the same. Fraud is intentional deception to obtain state funds or benefits you’re not entitled to, such as falsifying documents or billing the state for services never provided. Waste is the unnecessary spending of public money or mismanagement through weak controls. Abuse is misusing a government position for personal benefit or deliberately violating operating rules.
Each office also has some sector-specific reach. The health IG’s statute explicitly adds public safety threats, negligence, incompetence, and malfeasance to its scope.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Health – General Code Section 2-503 The education IG can investigate civil rights violations and failures in child abuse reporting.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Education 9.10-104 – Duties of Inspector General
Picking the Right Office Before You File
Match your concern to jurisdiction before you touch a form. If it involves a public school, school board, community college, nonpublic school that gets state funding, or the State Department of Education, file with the Inspector General for Education. If it involves Medicaid billing, a provider receiving state health funds, or a program run by the Department of Health, file with the Inspector General for Health. If it involves DHS programs, welfare benefits, or DHS employees or contractors, file with the DHS Inspector General.
How to File a Complaint
The Inspector General for Education takes complaints through an online portal, by email at oige.tips@maryland.gov, or by phone at 1-844-OIGETIP (1-844-644-3847). You can file anonymously through the online hotline or leave your contact information if you want a follow-up. The phone line and email are not monitored around the clock.6Maryland.gov. OIGE Complaint Form
The DHS Inspector General can be reached at 1-800-332-6347 (TTY: 1-800-735-2258) or by email at oig.mail@maryland.gov, with separate online forms for reporting recipient fraud versus employee or contractor misconduct.5Maryland Department of Human Services. Office of the Inspector General
The Inspector General for Health maintains its own intake procedures within the Department of Health for Medicaid fraud and departmental misconduct reports.2Maryland Department of Health. The Office of the Inspector General
What to Include
Every office asks for roughly the same thing. Provide the name and contact information of the person or business involved, including phone and email if you have them. Write a short narrative covering when the incident happened, where, who was involved, and how you learned about it. List anyone who can corroborate what you’re reporting. If you have supporting evidence such as emails, billing records, documents, or photographs, have those ready in electronic format to upload.6Maryland.gov. OIGE Complaint Form
Specificity matters more than volume. Dates, dollar amounts, names, and document references turn a tip into an actionable case. “Something seems off with the money” gives an investigator nothing to work with.
What Happens After You File
The office first conducts an initial review to assess jurisdiction and whether the allegation has enough substance to open a formal investigation. Not every complaint triggers one. Some get referred elsewhere, and some are closed after the preliminary review.
The health IG works on an unusually specific clock. Within 30 business days of receiving a complaint, the office must respond with a preliminary indication of whether it can investigate. If it cannot, it must explain why (unless doing so would compromise another investigation) and point you to the Office of Legislative Audits Fraud Hotline as an alternative.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Health – General Code Section 2-503
During an active investigation, the office may contact you for additional details, interview witnesses, review financial records, and conduct audits. Outcomes vary. The common result is administrative recommendations, in which the IG identifies control weaknesses or policy failures and recommends corrective action to the agency. When evidence suggests a crime, the office refers the matter out. The education IG refers potential crimes to the Maryland State Police, the Attorney General, or the relevant State’s Attorney, and pauses its own inquiry if law enforcement takes the case.7Maryland.gov. 2023 OIGE Annual Report The health IG refers to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and pursues financial recovery through provider audits, recipient investigations, and civil settlements.4Maryland Department of Health. Office of the Inspector General for Health Annual Report FY2024
Protection From Retaliation
Maryland law prohibits supervisors, appointing authorities, and agency heads from retaliating against an employee who reports what the employee reasonably believes to be an abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, gross waste of money, a substantial danger to public health or safety, or a violation of law.8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code State Personnel and Pensions 5-305 – Reprisals Against Employees Prohibited Retaliation includes any negative personnel action taken because of the disclosure, and the protection reaches employees who seek a remedy after reporting.
The identity of an employee who makes a protected disclosure must be kept confidential unless the employee waives that protection, disclosure becomes necessary for the investigation, or the law requires it. Investigations are treated as strictly confidential, with information shared only with people who need it.9Maryland Department of Budget and Management. Maryland Whistleblower Protection
One boundary to know. The Maryland Whistleblower Law protects employees and applicants in the Executive Branch of state government, including units with independent personnel systems.9Maryland Department of Budget and Management. Maryland Whistleblower Protection If you are a private citizen reporting fraud rather than a state worker blowing the whistle internally, that specific anti-retaliation framework does not cover you the same way. You can still file, and you can still file anonymously through the online portals.
What the Inspector General Cannot Do
Each office’s jurisdiction is defined by statute, so it can only investigate the entities its enabling law lists. The education IG cannot investigate a private school that receives no state funding.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Education 9.10-104 – Duties of Inspector General The health IG’s authority reaches within the Department of Health and its funded providers, not across every health care entity in the state.
None of the offices have jurisdiction over the legislative or judicial branches. Inspector General oversight is an executive branch function. Complaints about legislators or judicial officers go through different channels.
These offices also do not prosecute. They investigate and refer. When they find evidence of criminal activity, the charging decision belongs to prosecutors. When they identify administrative failures, the agency itself decides whether and how to act on the recommendations.