About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

101 Op. Md. Att'y Gen. 3 (2016)

handle is hein.sag/sagmd0105 and id is 1 raw text is: 





PUBLIC PROPERTY


COMMISSION ON ARTISTIC PROPERTY - MANAGEMENT AND
     TRANSFER OF PUBLIC PROPERTY - INTERNAL MANAGE-
     MENT EXCEPTION TO RULEMAKING REQUIREMENT

                       February 8, 2016

The Honorable Timothy D. Baker
State Archivist
Maryland State Archives

     On behalf of the Commission on Artistic Property (the
Commission), you asked for our opinion on certain issues
relating to the Commission's custody and control over the artistic
property held by the State. The Commission is the body within the
Maryland State Archives (the Archives) that is charged with the
care and official custody of most of the valuable paintings and
other objects of decorative art owned by or loaned to the State.
Md. Code Ann., State Gov't (SG) § 9-1021(a). In addition, when
the State purchased the Peabody Art Collection from the Peabody
Institute in 1996 for $15 million, the Commission also became the
official custodian of that collection. SG § 9-1021(a)(2). With
respect to the objects subject to its official custody, the
Commission must keep a continuing inventory of the objects and
be responsible for and supervise the acquisition, custody, display,
location, preservation, proper care, security, and restoration of the
objects. SG § 9-1021(a)(1)(i), (ii).

     Pursuant to its statutory mission, the Commission has
maintained a comprehensive inventory list of all of the artistic
property in its official custody. As we understand it, however,
some objects that presently are recorded on the list may not belong
there. For instance, some objects are damaged beyond restoration,
and some might not qualify as valuable paintings or other
objects of decorative art. Additionally, approximately 25 objects
listed as part of the Peabody Collection may not even be owned by
the State, because they were not included in the 1996 purchase
contract between the State and the Peabody Institute.  The
Commission has thus begun drafting a collections management
policy to establish criteria for removing an object from the list or-
as a museum curator might describe it-deaccessioning a piece
from the collection. 1
   1 We note for purposes of clarity that, although deaccessioning an
object from a private museum's collection might mean both removing
the object from the museum's inventory list and selling the object, it

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most