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Blocking the release of an internal investigative report that showed that police officer Chuck Ternent confessed to exchanging inappropriate messages with a 17-year-old girl he met at a community policing event in 2015 has earned Allegany County Attorney T. Lee Beeman, Jr. and Allegany County, Maryland the 2026 Golden Padlock Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors. The award celebrates annually the most secretive government agencies in the U.S.

Beeman and Allegany County were chosen from a group that included: Chula Vista, California, for withholding police drone records; The Oregon Lottery and state legislature for enacting a secrecy provision covering records that could embarass the lottery; and The Lousiana State Police, for denying the existence of a video showing an officer allegedly assaulting a suspect.

IRE’s Golden Padlock committee also named three other finalists that exemplified the techniques of secrecy and obfuscation the award seeks to highlight.

The winner of the 2026 Golden Padlock Award was announced during the awards luncheon at the IRE Conference in National Harbor. IRE invited Beeman to attend and accept the award, but received no response.

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