Does a town have to disclose in its meeting agenda that it plans to discuss hiring a specific police officer applicant?

Official title

99-IB05: FOIA Complaint Against Town of Bethany Beach

Plain-English summary

The same resident who had complained about Bethany Beach's Town Manager hiring process a few weeks earlier filed a follow-up complaint about a March 19, 1999 meeting where the town council discussed hiring a new police officer in executive session. The notice and agenda described the closed session using FOIA's standard language, "personnel matters relating to names, competency and abilities of individual employees," without naming the applicant. The AG found that was enough, reaffirming its earlier guidance to the same resident that FOIA doesn't require identifying specific personnel in the agenda before going into a properly authorized executive session. The resident also raised several other concerns: whether the town manager should have advertised the police officer opening before recommending a candidate, whether calling a special meeting in March was proper under municipal law, and whether the town engaged in favoritism in making the hire. The AG explained, again, that its review is limited strictly to FOIA compliance; questions about municipal hiring procedures or political fairness in a hiring decision are outside its jurisdiction, and the resident was advised to consult private counsel if she wanted to pursue those issues further.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1999. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Does an agenda for a personnel executive session need to name the specific job candidate being discussed?
A: No, according to this opinion, which reaffirmed the AG's prior guidance that FOIA doesn't require identifying specific personnel to properly convene an executive session for personnel matters.

Q: Can the Delaware AG's office rule on whether a town followed proper hiring procedures, like advertising a job opening?
A: No. The AG found that municipal hiring procedures are a matter of municipal law, outside the scope of its FOIA-focused review, and directed the resident to private legal counsel for those concerns.

Q: Can a FOIA complaint be used to challenge whether a town engaged in favoritism in a hiring decision?
A: No, based on this opinion. The AG explained that allegations of favoritism in a hiring decision are a political and municipal-law issue, not something FOIA's notice and open-meeting requirements address.

Q: If a citizen already received an answer on a legal question from the AG, does a similar later complaint get a different answer?
A: Not necessarily. The AG applied the same reasoning from its earlier letter to this resident regarding agenda specificity for personnel matters, reaching the same conclusion for the police officer hiring notice.

Background and statutory framework

The complaint concerned a March 19, 1999 Bethany Beach meeting where the council discussed hiring a new police officer in executive session, following notice describing the session in FOIA's standard personnel-exception language without naming the applicant. Applying the same reasoning from its prior opinion to the same resident regarding the town's Town Manager hire, the AG found the generic personnel-matter description adequate under FOIA's open-meeting notice requirements and declined to require naming the specific applicant. The AG declined jurisdiction over the resident's separate complaints about the town's hiring advertisement practices, the propriety of calling a special meeting under municipal law, and allegations of favoritism, finding all three outside the scope of its FOIA-focused review.

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/1999/05/12/99-ib05-foia-complaint-against-town-of-bethany-beach/

Original opinion text

May 12, 1999

Civil Division-Kent County (739-7641)

Ms. Amy Garrison

510 Candlelight Lane

Bethany Beach, DE 19930

Re: Freedom of Information Act Complaint Against Town of Bethany Beach

Dear Ms. Garrison:

By letter dated April 22, 1999 (received by this Office on April 26, 1999), you complained

that the Town of Bethany Beach (“the Town”) had violated the Delaware Freedom of Information Act, 29 Del. C. Sections 10001-10005 (“FOIA”), by failing to give notice that it would discuss the hiring of a new police officer at its March 19, 1999 meeting.

We asked the Town to respond to your complaint, and received their letter dated May 6, 1999.

Listed in the notice and agenda for the March 19, 1999 meeting was “Executive Session to discuss personnel matters relating to names, competency and abilities of individual employees.” The minutes of the executive session, which we have reviewed confidentially, show that the Council discussed an applicant’s qualifications for a police officer position, which became after the Council decided to hire Mr. Hudson as the new Town Manager. The Council was authorized by law to go into executive session to discuss this matter. As we explained in our letter to you of April 28, 1999, FOIA does not require an agenda to identify the personnel in convening an executive session to consider personnel matters.

You raise a number of other legal issues in your letter: (1) did the Town violate municipal law because the Town Manager did not advertise for the new police position and then make a recommendation to the Council?; (2) did the Council violate municipal law in calling a special meeting in March 1999?; (3) did the Town engage in “favoritism” in hiring the new police officer? As we explained to you in our letter dated April 28, 1999, our review is limited solely to issues enumerated in the Freedom of Information Act. Municipal law and political issues which may result from the acts or omissions of a public body are beyond our jurisdiction and we must respectfully suggest that you consult private legal counsel on how to best address those concerns.

For the foregoing reasons, we determine that the Town did not violate the notice requirements of FOIA in connection with the meeting on March 19, 1999.

Very truly yours,

W. Michael Tupman

Deputy Attorney General

APPROVED

Michael J. Rich

State Solicitor

cc: M. Jane Brady

Attorney General

John Terence Jaywork, Esquire

Town Solicitor

Philip G. Johnson

Opinion Coordinator