Delaware Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Delaware, with full citations and the original source on every page.
If a Delaware agency keeps expungement statistics in a database and the requester knows the data exists (because the same agency reported it to the Governor's Office), can the agency say the data is 'not finalized' and refuse to produce it?
Not without sworn proof. Producing easily disclosable data from a computer system is not 'creating a new record' under FOIA. When the requester pointed out that the Governor's Office had received the …
When a Delaware city reschedules a council meeting because of bad weather and gives less than 7 days' notice for the new date, is 'inclement weather' enough of an explanation to satisfy FOIA, or does the city have to also explain why the actual agenda items can't wait?
Both. Inclement weather explains why the original meeting got cancelled, but FOIA requires the city to also explain why each agenda item, including final readings of ordinances, has to be heard with l…
If I ask a Delaware city for the rules governing how its council moves a bill from committee to a vote, and the city says 'we don't have a separate document for that,' is that a FOIA violation?
No, as long as the city's response is clear that no separate document exists. The City of Dover told Shyanne Miller that it conducts its legislative proceedings 'in accordance with the City of Dover C…
After a Delaware AG opinion ordered the City of Dover to re-review its withholdings of records about the police chief and the FOP, was the City's later use of attorney-client privilege and the personnel file exemption proper, and did the City have to file an affidavit with its supplemental production?
Yes, the privilege calls were proper, and no, the City did not have to file an affidavit with the supplemental production. The attorney-client privilege exists independently of the prior pending-litig…
When a Delaware county uses code enforcement against a homeowner over multiple years, can the homeowner FOIA the search warrant materials, hearing recordings, and internal communications, or are those covered by the investigatory files exemption?
The county must produce administrative hearing recordings and ordinary code enforcement records (notices, officer assignments) but can withhold search warrant applications, affidavits, and supporting …
When a Delaware public body needs more than 15 business days to respond to a FOIA request, what does it actually have to tell the requester, and can it require prepayment of search fees?
The public body must say two things: an authorized reason for the delay (the records are voluminous, in storage, archived, or need legal review) AND a good faith estimate of how much extra time it nee…
Can a Delaware citizen get body-camera footage, dash-cam video, and police reports from a traffic incident the citizen was personally involved in once the investigation is closed?
No, not under FOIA. The investigatory files exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3) covers records compiled for civil or criminal law enforcement purposes, including body-cam footage, incident reports, …
Once a Delaware public body has invoked the pending-litigation FOIA exemption to refuse a request, can the requester get around the exemption by re-submitting essentially the same request with a different topic label?
Not entirely, but the public body still has to do work. Sussex County had previously denied an offshore-wind-related records request; the requester then filed a new request with the topic changed to '…
If a Delaware public body's hybrid (in-person plus virtual) meeting cuts off a remote attendee in the middle of public comment, has the public body broken the open-meeting law?
It can. Section 10006A(d)(4) says a tech glitch does not by itself invalidate a virtual meeting or the actions taken at it. But the public body still has to demonstrate compliance with FOIA. When the …
When a Delaware public body says it has no records responsive to a FOIA request but the requester sees evidence the records exist, what kind of evidence does the public body have to put forward to prove its search was adequate?
A sworn statement is required. Generalized denials in a lawyer's response don't satisfy the burden. The public body has to file a sworn affidavit describing who was consulted, what systems were search…
If a Delaware county says it has no more records about a property easement but I think there must be more, what does the county have to do to prove it really searched?
It has to put the search under oath. AG opinion 26-IB06 found that New Castle County did NOT violate FOIA in responding to Gary Binns's request for easement and accessway records, because the county p…
Can I get Delaware State Police body camera footage of my own arrest after the case is closed?
Generally no. AG opinion 26-IB05 found that the Delaware State Police did NOT violate FOIA by denying James Eaves's request for body-worn camera footage related to his closed criminal cases. The inves…
Can a Delaware public body charge me thousands of dollars in advance for school records held by an outside contractor?
Yes, but it has to scope the estimate properly. AG opinion 26-IB04 found that the Delaware Department of Education did NOT violate FOIA by collecting all estimated fees in advance. But the AG recommen…
If I asked my Delaware town council to discuss my employment in open session, can they still go into executive session over my objection?
Yes, if litigation is on the table. AG opinion 26-IB03 found that the Town of Greenwood did NOT violate FOIA when the Town Council went into executive session twice in 2025 to discuss Janet Todd's emp…
Can I get my own job interview notes from a Delaware city under FOIA?
No. AG opinion 26-IB02 found that the City of Wilmington did NOT violate FOIA by denying Tymir Thompkins's request for his own interview panel records. Records reflecting interview panelist evaluation…
If a Delaware public body says my housing application records are exempt but won't say specifically why, did they violate FOIA?
Yes. AG opinion 26-IB01 found that the Delaware State Housing Authority VIOLATED FOIA by failing to meet its burden to justify denying Talia Mann's request for her own tenant program application recor…
If a Delaware public body holds a virtual town hall with sign-in requirements and a waiting room, but only a few members attend, did they violate the open-meetings law?
No. AG opinion 25-IB66 found that the Redding Consortium for Educational Equity did NOT violate FOIA at its November 18, 2025 town hall meeting because less than a quorum of its 24 members attended (o…
Can I get the police station booking-area video and 911 audio for an arrest where the charges were later dismissed?
No. AG opinion 25-IB65 found that New Castle County did NOT violate FOIA by denying Gordon Putnik's request for body-cam, dash-cam, 911 audio, CAD logs, dispatch notes, and station/booking video relat…
If three Delaware city councilmembers attend a meeting about a community Christmas event, does that automatically count as a 'public meeting' under FOIA?
No, not if they aren't conducting public business as a quorum. AG opinion 25-IB64 found that the City of New Castle did NOT violate FOIA when a councilmember and the Mayor met on November 9, 2025 to d…
If a Delaware town's meeting agenda lists a 'Second Reading: Resolution' on a property tax rate, but the council actually does the first reading of an ordinance instead, is that a FOIA violation?
No. AG opinion 25-IB63 found that the Town of Blades did NOT violate FOIA when its November 10, 2025 meeting agenda listed 'Second Reading: Resolution 2025.10.27.0001 Real Estate Property Tax Rate' bu…
If a Delaware town receives a FOIA request and never responds, what happens when the AG investigates?
The town loses by default. Under 29 Del. C. § 10005(c), the public body bears the burden of proof to show it complied with FOIA. Here, the Town of Blades did not respond to the AG's request for an ans…
Can a Delaware agency refuse a FOIA request when the requester has openly announced an intent to sue the agency over the same records?
Yes. Under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9), records pertaining to pending or potential litigation are exempt from disclosure if litigation is reasonably foreseeable and there is a clear nexus between the rec…
Does a Delaware town meeting agenda have to specify whether the council will do a 'first reading' or 'second reading' of a tax-rate proposal, or is 'New Tax Rate' specific enough?
'New Tax Rate' was specific enough. The AG found that the Town of Blades did NOT violate FOIA when its October 27, 2025 special-meeting agenda listed only 'New Tax Rate' without flagging that the Coun…
If a city denies a journalist's FOIA request for keyword-searched emails about a police chief and a vote of no confidence, does it have to back up the denial with sworn evidence?
Yes. The City of Dover violated FOIA by denying Maggie Reynolds's request for emails between the Mayor and Police Chief on FOP-related keywords without supporting the denial with sworn statements. The…
Does Delaware's FOIA give out-of-state residents the right to request public records from Delaware municipalities?
No. Delaware FOIA limits the right of access under 29 Del. C. § 10003(a) to citizens of Delaware. Karen Miller's three petitions against the Town of Greenwood were denied because Miller's requests cam…
When a Delaware town misses the FOIA deadline but eventually responds, can a citizen still get a violation finding for incomplete responses, redaction failures, and untrained staff?
Partially yes. The AG split the four claims: (1) the late-response timeliness claim is moot once a response is provided; (2) two requests where the responses were notated as 'incomplete' resulted in a…
If three of seven members of a Delaware school board meet privately to discuss public business, does that violate FOIA's open meeting requirements?
No, because three is not a quorum. Delaware FOIA's open meeting requirements only apply when a 'quorum' of a public body gathers to discuss or take action on public business. The Christina School Dist…
Is Delaware's rule that only Delaware citizens can use FOIA constitutional, or does it violate the U.S. Constitution?
It is constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court in McBurney v. Young (2013) held that a state-citizens-only FOIA statute does not violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause or the Dormant Commerce Clau…
Can a state environmental agency refuse to release email notifications it sent to General Assembly members about environmental violations, by citing the FOIA exemption for legislator emails?
Yes. Section 10002(o)(16) exempts 'emails received or sent by members of the Delaware General Assembly or their staff' from FOIA disclosure. The Superior Court in Flowers v. Office of the Governor (20…
When a Delaware municipality reschedules a meeting, does the posted notice have to clearly identify the new date, time, and location?
Yes. The Village of Arden violated FOIA by posting a notice that did not clearly identify the date, time, and location of the rescheduled meeting. The original notice for September 22, 2025 only said …
Can a Delaware citizen FOIA the police call logs and CAD records for a specific address, with personal info redacted?
No. The investigatory files exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3) covers calls for service, CAD logs, and incident reports as a category, because each call initiates police investigation for civil or …
If a Delaware town is considering banning chickens, can a resident FOIA the underlying chicken complaints, or are they exempt code-enforcement records?
The complaints are exempt. The investigatory files exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3) covers complaints filed with both town police and the Building/Code Official, because they trigger civil code-e…
Can a county invoke the pending litigation FOIA exemption against a third-party watchdog group that is not a litigant but is asking about the same subject matter as the lawsuit?
Yes. Under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9), pending or potential litigation records are exempt from FOIA disclosure, and the requesting party does NOT have to be a litigant. Sussex County properly denied the…
Does Delaware FOIA require state agencies to accept written public comments at meetings, or can they require comments to be made verbally during the public comment period?
Verbal is enough. The Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination did not violate FOIA by refusing to accept Amy Roe's written comments before the September 3, 2025 PLUS (Preliminary Land Use Servi…
When a Delaware town's executive session covers both litigation strategy and personnel matters, can the AG decide whether the closed-session use was proper, even when an employee asks for an open-session discussion?
Sometimes not, on the available record. The AG cleared the Town of Greenwood on the FOIA-coordinator-listing claim because the Town updated its website within the 20-day statutory window after appoint…
If I called the police to report harassment and want to see the report I generated as a victim, can I get it through Delaware FOIA?
No, even as the alleged victim. Section 10002(o)(3) categorically exempts police reports as investigatory files. Michael Ryan's request for a copy of his October 2024 harassment-complaint report was l…
When a Delaware city sends a FOIA cost estimate of $9,592, does it have to prove the rate is from the lowest-paid capable employee and that one hour was waived?
Yes. The City of Milford violated FOIA by failing to support that its $9,592 cost estimate (261 hours at $36.75/hour) for a multi-category financial records request complied with FOIA's fee provisions…
Does Delaware FOIA require a denial letter to cite specific statutory exemptions, provide an index of withheld records, or answer the requester's substantive questions?
No to all three. New Castle County did NOT violate FOIA by responding to Irina Genseruk's permit-history request with a partial production, an investigatory-files exemption note, and a website link. S…
When a Delaware school district employee separates and asks for the separation agreement and related records, are those documents exempt as a personnel file?
Mostly yes, with two key exceptions. The Christina School District properly invoked the personnel file exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(1) for most records about Phillip Hudson's separation. But two…
Can a Delaware city charge a journalist $511 to retrieve government salary data, then change what records will be produced after payment is made?
Not without explanation. The City of Dover violated FOIA by failing to demonstrate compliance with cost-estimate rules. Ben Mace of The News Journal paid $8.68 for 2024 salary data, then learned the C…
Can a Delaware municipality wait two years to produce meeting minutes from a rezoning vote?
Partial violation. The Delaware AG ruled the City of Rehoboth Beach violated FOIA by failing to maintain and produce meeting minutes from a June 16, 2023 rezoning vote for over two years. But the AG c…
Can a Delaware vehicle owner use FOIA to obtain their own toll-violation history and toll-payment records from DelDOT?
No. The Delaware AG ruled DelDOT properly denied a vehicle owner's FOIA request for her own toll-violation history and toll-payment records. The records are 'motor vehicle records' protected by 21 Del…
Does a school board committee violate Delaware FOIA when it discusses an unrelated proposed policy that wasn't on the meeting agenda?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled that the Christina School District's Policy Review Committee violated FOIA at its July 1, 2025 meeting by discussing a proposed new policy on board-presidency qualifications…
Can a Delaware resident use FOIA to get police incident reports and service-call summaries about their own home and neighborhood?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Delaware State Police properly denied a resident's FOIA request for police incident reports and service-call summaries about her own home and surrounding community. The i…
Can a Delaware school district redact parent names from special education settlement agreements released under FOIA?
No violation. The Delaware AG ruled Indian River School District did not violate FOIA when it redacted parent names from six special-education settlement agreements before producing them to a News Jou…
Can the Delaware Governor's Office withhold media-request emails under attorney-client privilege, executive privilege, and the legislative email exemption?
No violation. The Delaware AG ruled the Governor's Office properly withheld and redacted emails responsive to a News Journal FOIA request about Cambridge Analytica, Meta, and Vice Chancellor Laster, a…
Does a public body violate Delaware FOIA when its meeting agenda lists 'open forum' instead of 'public comment,' or when it lacks a FOIA coordinator and online request portal?
Yes on most counts. The Delaware AG ruled that the Center for the Inland Bays violated FOIA by failing to put 'public comment' on its meeting agendas, by skipping comment at a virtual meeting, by not …
If I ask my Delaware school district for the name and salary of an employee who confronted my child, can I get that under FOIA?
Mixed result. Smyrna School District properly denied a parent's first request because it asked the District to *identify* an employee, not for existing records (FOIA does not require Q&A). But on the …
Can a Delaware town hide ICE's side of the email thread on its 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement just because ICE asks them to?
No. The Town of Camden violated FOIA by redacting the ICE side of email exchanges about its (now-rescinded) 287(g) immigration agreement, based only on ICE's verbal request and a 'For Official Use Onl…
If a Delaware town holds a private meeting with a developer, refuses to let residents observe, and then doesn't even respond to the FOIA petition, what happens?
It loses by default. The Town of Blades violated FOIA by failing to demonstrate that a private meeting between Town officials and a developer (which residents were barred from observing) was held in c…
If I'm about to sue Delaware police and probation in federal court over a stop, can I still use FOIA to get the records I'll need for my case?
No. After Tom Somers Jr. sent the Department of Correction a preservation-of-evidence letter saying he was preparing a federal civil rights lawsuit (which he then filed on May 7, 2025), DOC and DSP pr…
When a Delaware city wants to withhold a developer's PowerPoint presentation as 'commercial' information, what does the city actually have to prove?
Wilmington violated FOIA by withholding a developer's presentation under the commercial-and-financial-information exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(2)) without enough evidence to support each of the th…
If Delaware State Police stopped me on a sidewalk and I want the body camera footage of my own stop, can I get it through FOIA?
No. Delaware State Police properly denied a citizen's FOIA request for body camera, dashboard camera, dispatch audio, and officer notes from his own pedestrian stop. The investigatory files exemption …
If a parent's lawyer threatens to sue a Delaware school district over restraint and seclusion of a student, can the district then deny FOIA requests about restraint records under the potential-litigation exemption?
Yes. The Smyrna School District properly denied seven categories of restraint-and-seclusion records under FOIA's potential litigation exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9)). The same attorney had sent t…
If the ACLU asks the Delaware Department of Correction for outside counsel fee agreements and invoices, does the agency have to actually search for them and respond on time?
The Delaware Department of Correction violated FOIA twice: by missing the 15-business-day response deadline on the ACLU's January 29, 2025 revised requests, and by failing to demonstrate an adequate s…
If a Delaware city intern asks to speak during the public comment period at a council meeting, can the city refuse just because the intern is on city staff?
No. The City of Milford violated FOIA by refusing to let an unpaid intern speak during the public comment period of a January 13, 2025 council meeting on two cannabis ordinances. FOIA's public comment…
After Wilmington was ordered to redo its FOIA response on the homeless-bench dispute, did its second answer satisfy the attorney-client and investigatory-files exemptions?
Yes. The City of Wilmington's supplemental response satisfied FOIA. The City Solicitor's affidavit established the withheld records were either attorney-client communications between police/mayor staf…
Does Delaware's FOIA six-hour agenda rule apply to the Senate Judiciary Committee when it swaps out a bill three hours before its hearing?
No. The Senate Judiciary Committee did not violate FOIA when a substitute version of Senate Bill 21 replaced the original bill three hours before the March 12, 2025 hearing. The General Assembly, incl…
When a Delaware public body responds to a FOIA request, what does the affidavit have to actually say to prove the search was adequate?
The Village of Arden violated FOIA twice: once by relying on a single committee chair's blanket statement that all responsive records had been produced (without specifying who searched, what was searc…
If a Delaware school employee asked for a public termination hearing and then changed their mind, can a journalist still get the hearing officer's report and exhibits under FOIA?
No. Brandywine School District properly denied a News Journal reporter's request for the hearing officer's report and exhibits from a teacher's January 2025 termination hearing. Even though the hearin…
Does Delaware's open-meetings agenda rule apply to a Joint Legislative Committee?
No. The Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee did not violate FOIA when its February 13, 2025 agenda named only the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program but the meeting drifted into related pr…
Can a Delaware city refuse to give me emails between its officials and a state legislator under FOIA?
Yes. The City of Milford properly withheld emails sent or received by State Representative Bryan Shupe under the legislative email exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(16)), even though the city officials…
If a Delaware agency previously gave me a count of records as a courtesy, does FOIA force them to keep producing that count for me on request?
No. Delaware State Police did not violate FOIA when it stopped producing monthly counts of automatic expungements under the Clean Slate law (11 Del. C. § 4373A). DSP had been compiling the figures by …
If Delaware police were called about me but no crime was charged, can I FOIA the body camera footage of that encounter?
No. The City of Newark properly denied a request from Samuel Smith for body camera footage of his own interaction with police, even though Smith insisted no crime was committed and no investigation wa…
If a Delaware licensing board posts its meeting agenda only thirty minutes before the meeting starts, has it violated FOIA?
Yes. The Delaware Board of Electrical Examiners violated FOIA when it failed to post the February 5, 2025 meeting agenda until thirty minutes before the meeting. FOIA requires the agenda to be posted …
When a Delaware city manager and parks staff meet privately with a charter school to talk about converting a public park into baseball fields, does that count as a 'public body' meeting that has to be open under FOIA?
No. The Newark City Manager, Parks Director, and Deputy Parks Director can meet with Newark Charter School representatives to explore a parkland proposal without triggering FOIA's open meetings rules.…
If I'm in a Delaware civil case from a car crash, can I FOIA the police body camera and dashboard footage instead of going through court discovery?
No. Delaware State Police properly denied an attorney's FOIA request for body camera, dashboard camera, and photo records from a 2023 accident, even though the lawyer was representing a party in litig…
If a state agency stores its data in a database owned and operated by a private vendor, can a Delaware FOIA requester force the agency to hand over the database structure?
No. The Delaware Department of Insurance did not violate FOIA when it denied a request for database names, table names, and field structures, because the databases that hold its insurance data are own…
If a Delaware committee's agenda lists 'public education campaign' as a topic, can it vote at the meeting to appoint a liaison without separately listing that vote on the agenda?
Yes. The Dewey Beach Climate Change Committee's agenda discussion of the public education campaign was specific enough that appointing a coordination liaison was a foreseeable consequence. The Committ…
Can a Delaware school district charge $65 an hour to pull English Learner data because only the Supervisor of Instruction has system access?
Yes. Seaford School District showed that only the Supervisor of Instruction (and the higher-paid Director of Instruction) had the access and training to gather and properly deidentify the requested st…
When a Delaware public body charges for FOIA work, can it pick a higher-paid employee instead of the lowest-paid one capable of doing it?
No, but the lowest-paid employee 'capable' of the work is the one who actually has the access and skills. Sussex County Vocational Technical School District quoted $63.21/hour for a teacher serving as…
What are the notice rules for a Delaware public body holding a virtual meeting, and what counts as proper agenda notice for the meeting where they vote to dissolve?
The agenda must include a public comment period (verbally adding it at the meeting does not work), and the meeting notice must include both an anchor physical location AND virtual participation inform…
When a Delaware city refuses to release records under attorney-client privilege, what does it have to put in writing to back that up?
More than a one-paragraph affidavit. Wilmington withheld correspondence about removing benches near a homelessness shelter, citing attorney-client privilege. The Solicitor's affidavit said only that t…
Can a Delaware agency refuse to release records about offshore wind development just because there's an Environmental Appeals Board hearing pending?
Yes, when the records and the hearing are both about the same subject. DNREC properly invoked the pending-litigation exemption to withhold records about US Wind, the Indian River Bay, and offshore win…
Can a journalist use FOIA to find out which Delaware House staff signed nondisclosure agreements?
No. The Division of Legislative Services produced redacted copies of the five signed NDAs, the unsigned policy template, and the related employee handbooks. The redactions of staff names and signature…
Can a Delaware public body cure a missing public-comment item on the agenda by orally adding it before the meeting starts?
No. The public-comment period must be on the printed agenda. The Mayor's verbal addition at the start of the December 13, 2024 meeting did not save it. ACT violated FOIA. But because ACT voted at that…
Can a Delaware state representative use FOIA to find out which legislative staff signed nondisclosure agreements?
He can get the policies themselves, but the names of the staff who signed are protected. The Division of Legislative Services properly redacted names and signatures from the five NDAs because the staf…
If a Delaware town quotes me a high fee for a FOIA request and I ask for a quote on a narrower version, can the town just ignore the new request?
No. When the requester modifies a FOIA request after seeing a fee estimate (here, $660), the town has to engage with the modification, not stay silent. Bethany Beach's failure to respond to Ms. Pawlos…
If a Delaware city tells me that no records exist responsive to my FOIA request, can I force them to look harder?
Only if you can show their search was inadequate. The City of Wilmington's Director of Land Use and Planning swore under oath that an inspector visited the Rockford Tower Condominiums in August 2024 a…
How specific does a Delaware agency have to be when it tells a FOIA requester that it needs more time to gather documents?
It has to give a real, good-faith estimate of when the records will arrive, not just a generic 'we need more time.' The Lieutenant Governor's Office repeatedly told the AP it was working on the reques…
Can the Delaware Department of Correction be forced to disclose the names, ID numbers, and incarceration dates of elderly inmates in response to a FOIA request?
No. Two separate Delaware statutes block it: 11 Del. C. § 4322(a) makes DOC's case records privileged, and 11 Del. C. § 8513(d) prohibits dissemination of 'criminal history record information,' which …
Can a Delaware town council discuss a public employee's performance plan in a string of emails, instead of holding a public meeting?
No. When the town's lawyer emailed the whole council asking for their comments on the plan and members replied with substantive opinions, that exchange became a 'meeting' under FOIA. Doing it by email…
Does Delaware's Department of Correction have to compile a list of incarcerated misdemeanants from its database to answer a FOIA request about voter eligibility?
No. Because the DOC's records system would have to be cross-referenced with other state databases to produce accurate aggregate counts, and FOIA does not require an agency to create a record that does…
If a Delaware zoning agenda lists a parking variance for one property, does it also have to list the off-site parking lot the developer plans to use to meet the parking requirement?
No FOIA violation. Rehoboth Beach's agenda for the September 30, 2024 Board of Adjustment hearing identified the applicant, the property at 2 Rehoboth Avenue, and the four code sections involved (incl…
When are post-executive-session conversations among school board members a FOIA violation?
No. The Christina School District Board of Education did not violate FOIA on August 13, 2024. Board member Monica Moriak alleged four members met privately after an executive session, but the Board's …
Can a national trade association FOIA Delaware records to investigate whether the state legislature ratified the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement, when the association itself isn't a Delaware citizen?
No. Delaware FOIA's right to inspect public records is limited to Delaware citizens, a rule the AG has consistently applied since Op. 16-IB20. The Small Business in Transportation Coalition is a natio…
How specific does a Delaware public body's agenda have to be when noticing an executive session for legal advice?
No violation. The AG ruled the Diamond State Port Corporation Board did not violate FOIA. Its agenda label of 'strategy sessions involving legal advice' adequately noticed the executive session, and a…
Can a Delaware school district redact a hiring-related email under attorney-client privilege, and does its sworn search affidavit have to be specific?
The Christina School District did not violate FOIA. The Manager of Technology swore he searched all current and past Board members' email accounts, document folders, Google drives, and District device…
Does FOIA's 15-day response deadline include a specific time of day, and is it a violation if a Delaware office cannot find FOIA logs from before 2023?
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor (OLG) did not violate FOIA. A response sent at 5:06 PM on the 15th business day is timely; FOIA does not impose an hour-of-day deadline. The OLG produced all FOIA…
Can a Delaware county refuse to release fire department radio recordings if those recordings have been subpoenaed by the State Fire Commission?
Yes. Sussex County did not violate FOIA when it refused to release Lewes Fire Department radio communications and audio recordings from August 19, 2024. The State Fire Commission's Investigation Divis…
If a Wilmington community event organizer tells a newspaper he is talking to attorneys about possibly suing the City, can the City use that to deny a journalist's FOIA request about the event?
No. Spotlight Delaware reporter Brianna Hill asked Wilmington for emails about the August 23, 2024 Positive Vibes in the Park: Justice For All event, which moved venues. The City asserted potential-li…
If a Delaware town's old security-camera server lost video footage I asked for, do I have any FOIA recourse, and can the AG investigate the underlying incident?
The Town of Camden did not violate FOIA. The Town produced the requested August 5, 2024 Council meeting audio/video on a thumb drive, and the Town Manager's sworn affidavit confirmed that the addition…
Are informal 'office hours' held by elected village officers a public meeting under Delaware FOIA?
No. The AG ruled the four officers of the Village of Arden's Town Assembly (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Advisory Chair) are not a separate 'public body' under FOIA. Their monthly office hours are…
Can a Delaware FOIA request reach emails from a previous Governor's administration?
No. The AG concluded the Governor's Office did not violate FOIA when it told an incarcerated requester it could not produce emails belonging to the prior Markell administration, because FOIA's noncust…
Does the Wilmington Housing Authority have to produce a tenant resident council's records under FOIA?
Mostly no, except for what WHA actually held. The AG ruled the Wilmington Housing Authority met FOIA by producing the Compton Towers Resident Council bylaws and election procedures it possessed; the W…
If a Delaware county tells me there are no records responsive to my FOIA request, can I push back, and what does the county have to prove?
New Castle County did not violate FOIA. The County's FOIA Coordinator searched the Department of Land Use's electronic complaint repository and the permit files, found no responsive written complaints…
Can a Delaware parent in an Office of Civil Rights complaint use FOIA to get records about the teacher and school?
No. The AG ruled Caesar Rodney School District properly withheld training and personnel records under FOIA's pending-litigation exemption, because the parent's complaint to the U.S. Department of Educ…
Can a Delaware town avoid producing a meeting recording by saying it was accidentally deleted?
Yes. The AG ruled the Town of Ellendale did not violate FOIA when it could not produce a June 5 town hall audio recording, because the Council President swore the recording was accidentally deleted or…
If you ask a Delaware city for a list that combines two pieces of information they each have separately (parking-zone locations and the businesses at those addresses), can the city say no?
Yes. Rita Carnevale asked the City of Wilmington for a list of all businesses and addresses with city-installed 15-minute parking signs. Public Works' records track parking zones by location and stree…
Are records about Delaware's pension policy decisions for state legislators public?
No. The AG ruled the Delaware Office of Pensions properly denied a Spotlight Delaware reporter's request for emails on its 2024 legislative-pension policy change. The records relate to the eligibility…
When are texts on a Delaware state employee's personal cell phone public records under FOIA, and how must the agency document its search?
The Department of Elections did not violate FOIA. The FOIA Coordinator's sworn affidavit described a department-wide email canvas; only one employee had a related text message thread on a personal cel…
Is a Delaware public body's records denial still valid after the parties announce a tentative settlement?
Yes. The AG ruled the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA when it denied access to eight years of parking ticket, appeal, towing, and booting data. The Shaheed lawsuit was still pending despite a …
Can a rejected job applicant FOIA the school district's emails and selection records about the positions he applied for, including communications about his own application?
No. Delaware FOIA's common-law privacy doctrine protects discussions of applicant qualifications and competencies. Even though Hamburg was the applicant for the eight positions, FOIA's identity-of-req…
Can a Delaware school board take votes on iPads or laptops at a public meeting without announcing the result, or do votes have to be open?
The Christina School District Board of Education violated FOIA. FOIA requires that votes be taken at a public meeting and that the results be made public. The Board took votes via computer at its July…
Can a Delaware village hold a 'briefing' or 'informational session' the night before a public vote without giving FOIA notice, or does that count as an open meeting?
The Village of Arden violated FOIA by failing to prove that its June 23, 2024 informational session about the Schroeder Trust was not subject to open-meeting rules. Delaware courts have long held that…
Can a Delaware game warden's body-camera footage from a citation incident be released through FOIA, or is it exempt as an investigatory file?
DNREC did not violate FOIA. A Fish and Wildlife officer who issues a citation is a law enforcement officer with police powers, and body-camera and radio recordings of that incident are investigatory f…
Can a Delaware city council privately negotiate the salary in a city manager's employment contract just because they're discussing 'qualifications'?
No. Rehoboth Beach's Board of Commissioners discussed the new City Manager's compensation package in executive session, then voted in open session without explanation. The AG ruled the qualifications …
Can a Delaware school board hold an unannounced executive session about Robert's Rules and vote no confidence in the superintendent?
Yes for two of four claims. The AG ruled the Christina School Board violated FOIA by holding an unannounced executive session on parliamentary procedure (not a permitted purpose) and by failing to age…
Can a Delaware public body approve its meeting minutes via email instead of at an open meeting?
No. The AG ruled the Village of Arden Governance Task Force violated FOIA by approving its December 7, 2023 meeting minutes through serial email exchanges. That email circulation constituted a 'meetin…
Are Delaware's unclaimed-property voluntary disclosure agreement records public, or are they confidential under the escheat statute?
Confidential. The Department of State runs the voluntary disclosure program for unclaimed property. 12 Del. C. § 1174 makes records compiled in the course of voluntary disclosure under § 1173 not publ…
Does Delaware law force a town to keep police discipline records secret, or to hold a grievance hearing in private?
No on both counts. The AG ruled Georgetown did not violate FOIA when it voluntarily released officer discipline records and schedules; FOIA's exemptions are permissive. And FOIA's executive-session pr…
Is a voluntary association of Delaware coastal towns subject to open-meetings law?
Yes. The AG ruled that the Association of Coastal Towns, formed by seven Delaware mayors and funded by member dues, is a public body. It violated FOIA by holding meetings without notice or minutes, by…
Can the Delaware State Police refuse to release body camera and dash camera footage from a 2023 incident under FOIA?
Yes. The body camera, dash camera, and helicopter footage of a January 2023 police incident, plus the radio communications between the officer and dispatch, fall within FOIA's investigatory files exem…
Can DelDOT charge me hundreds of dollars in staff time to gather right-of-way acquisition spreadsheets, and can it bill me for someone to sit and watch me review the files in person?
Yes, with limits. DelDOT can charge for staff time to identify and compile non-centralized records, and can charge one hour to monitor an in-person file review at the lowest applicable pay rate. DelDO…
Can a Delaware county refuse to release zoning-violation records as 'investigatory files'?
Yes. The AG ruled Sussex County properly withheld records about violations on a Rehoboth Beach property under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3), the investigatory files exemption, after the County submitted a …
If a Delaware village has a town-meeting style government where every resident is a member, can a resident use FOIA to get communications between the council's lawyer and the small task force the lawyer was hired to advise?
The AG declined to decide. The Village of Arden withheld the communications under attorney-client privilege. The petition turned on whether every Arden resident is the law firm's client and whether th…
Can a Delaware town council just hold a closed-door 'executive meeting' to talk about draft ordinances?
No. The Town of Leipsic noticed a March 26, 2024 'Executive Meeting/Session' for 'Council Members Only' to discuss draft and existing town ordinances and the town charter. The AG ruled that ordinances…
If a Delaware village holds a regular meeting and a resident says the bulletin-board notice was missing on a specific date, but the village's secretary swears she posted it earlier, who wins?
The Village wins. The Village of Arden's Town Assembly Secretary attested under oath, with corroboration from a resident witness, that she posted the March 25, 2024 meeting notice on the Gild Hall bul…
How specific does a Delaware agency's affidavit have to be when defending a FOIA search, and is naming the statutory exemption in a denial letter enough?
The Department of Elections's FOIA-coordinator affidavit identified the people consulted (10 Board of Elections members, 6 county directors, the State Election Commissioner, and others), explained why…
When a Delaware municipality holds a 'special meeting' less than seven days after deciding to schedule it, what does the agenda have to say about why notice came late?
It must explain why seven days' notice could not be given. The Village of Arden's Advisory Committee scheduled a February 13, 2024 special meeting on January 31. The notice and agenda were posted on F…
Can someone connected to a Delaware criminal case use FOIA to get state-police policy manuals and warrant records about that case?
No. Erin Frederick, who had a connection to a 2023 bank-robbery investigation in which her Dodge Durango was towed, asked DSP for ethics manuals, warrant procedures, ALPR policies, body-cam policies, …
Can a Delaware reporter use FOIA to get a list of police calls for service to a specific address?
No. The AG concluded DSP could withhold a five-year list of calls for service to a private Wilmington address, because every call to a residence initiates a police investigation and the resulting reco…
If a former Delaware police academy cadet asks for body-cam footage and his evaluations from the academy, can the city refuse by saying he's just trying to set up a lawsuit?
Not without proof. Joshua Carter attended the Dover Municipal Police Academy from October to November 2023 and FOIA'd body-cam footage, training videos, evaluations, and correspondence with Dewey Beac…
Can a Delaware journalist FOIA prison policy on punishments like 'roll the log' or 'pick up bottle caps,' or does the security exemption shield it?
No. Although DOC tried (and failed) to invoke 11 Del. C. § 4322(d) without the required Commissioner judgment, the AG found a different exemption that did apply: § 10002(o)(17), which shields response…
Can a Delaware city use a vague 'matters discussed in executive session' agenda item to vote on hiring a new city solicitor with no public discussion?
No. Rehoboth Beach violated Delaware's open-meeting law twice: by voting on a new city solicitor without putting that decision on the agenda in 'plain and comprehensible' language, and by discussing t…
Can a Delaware criminal defendant who was exonerated FOIA the dash and body camera footage from his own arrest cases?
No. Delaware's investigatory-files exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3)) is not limited to pending investigations. News-Journal Co. v. Billingsley holds the exemption survives investigation closure. Ev…
Can a competing port operator block public records about a Delaware port deal by sending a litigation-hold letter and then suing later?
The litigation hold combined with related EAB appeals was enough for DSPC to invoke the pending and potential litigation exemptions for almost everything Holt asked for. But DSPC failed to support its…
Does a small Delaware town's museum review committee have to follow open-meetings rules?
Yes. The AG ruled the Town of Leipsic's Museum Review Committee, comprising the Mayor, Acting Council Secretary, and a Town resident, was a public body that violated FOIA when it met on November 6, 20…
Can a company use Delaware FOIA to pull records from a state agency while it has a pending appeal against that same agency, or is FOIA off-limits as a discovery shortcut?
DNREC did not violate FOIA. Holt's law firm represents an appellant in a pending Environmental Appeals Board appeal challenging DNREC's subaqueous-lands permit for the Diamond State Port Corporation. …
If I file 18 FOIA requests at once, does the Delaware agency have to send 18 separate responses?
No. The AG ruled the City of Seaford did not violate FOIA when it responded to 18 of Crystal Long's FOIA requests in a single letter with an aggregated cost estimate. FOIA permits a public body to com…
Can a Delaware school district charge $780 to search for emails about a manga library and refuse to open its book-review committee meetings?
Caesar Rodney School District lost on the fee estimate. The District wanted to bill $93 to $140 an hour for administrators to search their own emails, but FOIA requires the lowest-paid employee capabl…
Can a Delaware journalist get a list of every certified police officer's name, salary, and race?
No. The AG ruled DSP did not violate FOIA when it denied a journalist's seven-part request for a roster of all certified Delaware officers and their salary, rank, race, sex, age, and resumes. The secu…
Does a city committee picking a buyer for surplus property have to keep minutes under Delaware's open meetings law?
Yes. The AG ruled the City of Dover's Old Post Office review committee violated FOIA by failing to post an agenda and keep minutes for its August 29, 2023 meeting, and ordered the committee to reconst…
Can a Delaware town council ban rebuttals during public comment, and is it enough to list executive-session reasons by statute subsection?
The Town Council of Ellendale did not violate FOIA. A public comment period that allows two minutes per speaker and disallows rebuttals still gives the public a meaningful opportunity to engage. FOIA …
Can a Delaware city charge for staff time to identify FOIA-responsive records, including supervisor email searches?
No. The City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA when it charged Jamila Davey a $145 cost estimate (three hours of staff time) to process four outstanding FOIA requests about the Rodney Reservoir. Sect…
Can someone who lives outside Delaware use Delaware FOIA to get records from a Delaware state agency?
No. Delaware FOIA only requires Delaware agencies to respond to requests from Delaware citizens. Ian Riden, a non-Delaware resident, sent six FOIA requests to the Delaware Health Information Network a…
Can a Delaware journalist FOIA a state employee's attendance, performance, and discipline records, and how generic can the agency's denial affidavit be?
It depends on the type of record. Under Op. 06-IB11 and the personnel-file exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(1)), attendance and leave records with generic descriptors like 'sick' or 'vacation' are pub…
Can a Delaware reporter FOIA the police interview transcripts of teens arrested for car theft to learn about their motives?
No. Delaware FOIA categorically exempts 'investigatory files compiled for civil or criminal law-enforcement purposes' (29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3)). Police interview transcripts of arrested teens are exa…
Can a Delaware school district hide the appointment of an acting high school principal inside a generic 'personnel agenda' and refuse to tell the public the names or positions involved?
No. The Indian River Board's June 26 and August 16, 2023 agendas listed only 'personnel' for the executive session and 'personnel agenda' / 'personnel addendum' for the open-session vote. That gave no…
Can a Louisiana doctor get a Delaware zoo's necropsy report on a pudu (small deer) that died at the Brandywine Zoo?
No. Delaware FOIA only guarantees access to citizens of Delaware (Op. 16-IB20). Dr. Heiligman, a Louisiana resident, asked DNREC for a necropsy report on Haechan, a pudu (small South American deer) th…
If a pro se plaintiff sues Wilmington over policing tactics and quotes an ACLU report in the complaint, can the City refuse to give the ACLU records about those tactics?
Yes. The ACLU of Delaware filed a 20-part FOIA seeking Operation Safe Streets and Governor's Task Force records. A week before the request, a pro se federal civil rights plaintiff had sued the City ov…
Must a Delaware municipality post meeting minutes online, and can the AG review the merits of a council's vote?
No. The City of Delaware City did not violate FOIA by failing to post meeting minutes on its website; § 10004(f) does not require online posting. The AG also cannot review the petition's other claims …
Can a Delaware agency keep asking for 15 more business days every time my FOIA request is voluminous, instead of giving me a real estimate?
No. The Department of Health and Social Services repeatedly told reporter Meredith Newman it needed another 15 business days, then another, then another. The AG ruled that 29 Del. C. § 10003(h) requir…
Does Delaware FOIA make a city compile a list of properties whose water has been shut off, or only hand over a list it already keeps?
Dover did not violate FOIA. FOIA only requires public bodies to give access to records they actually keep. The City does not maintain a list of properties whose water has been shut off, and FOIA does …
If a Delaware journalist sends a FOIA request to the wrong agency, does that agency have to forward it to the right one, or can it just deny the request?
DNREC didn't violate FOIA by denying records about the Port of Wilmington bidding because DNREC isn't the custodian of those records, the Diamond State Port Corporation is. Under Delaware administrati…
Can a Delaware school district refuse to give a reporter administrators' hire dates, salaries, and leave status by saying 'that's a question, not a request for records'?
Not without sworn evidence that no such record exists. Indian River School District claimed the request was an interrogatory, but the AG ruled that counsel's unsworn statements cannot meet the FOIA bu…
If three neighboring Delaware villages hold a joint meeting to vote on a transportation plan at one village's town hall, is that a FOIA violation if the host hall is not in two of the villages?
No. The Villages of Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft scheduled June 26, 2023 meetings at Gild Hall in Arden to vote on a joint transportation plan. The AG ruled FOIA permits a special meeting to be he…
Can a Delaware town require me to use its specific FOIA form before answering my records request?
No. The AG ruled the Town of Ellendale violated FOIA by refusing to process Tamara Skis's email and portal requests for meeting minutes and a decorum policy unless she resubmitted on the Town's specif…
When a Delaware public body holds an executive session, can people who are not board members attend, and how specific does the executive session agenda have to be?
The Diamond State Port Corporation kept two grounds on its revised executive session agenda (legal-advice strategy and exempted-document content) and that was specific enough. But the Board violated F…
Can a Delaware city refuse to release public-records data that overlaps with a pending lawsuit?
Yes. The AG ruled the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA by denying access to monthly vehicle booting and towing statistics under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9), the pending-litigation exemption, where…
Does Delaware FOIA force a public body to mail or email me copies of records, or can the agency just say 'come in and inspect them'?
The agency does not have to send you copies. Delaware FOIA requires public bodies to make records available for inspection and copying during business hours, but 29 Del. C. § 10003(a) does not obligat…
Can a Delaware voter use FOIA to get poll book certification forms and voting machine certificates after an election?
No. The AG ruled poll book certifications and voting machine certificates are 'voting materials' that 15 Del. C. § 4980 requires to be stored undisturbed and locked for 22 months after the election, w…
Can a Delaware school board hold an executive session without saying what it is about, then come back and vote on a 'monthly personnel report' that quietly includes the superintendent?
No. FOIA requires the agenda to state the purpose of an executive session, not just label it 'Executive Session.' The Delmar Board also violated FOIA by reordering its agenda mid-meeting without telli…
Can a law firm representing audit targets in pending litigation use FOIA to obtain Delaware unclaimed property audit-assignment records?
No. The Delaware Department of Finance properly denied a Reed Smith partner's FOIA request for records about the Department's compliance with the 50% cap on audit assignments to any single contract au…
If a Delaware school board agenda just says 'executive session' and 'personnel report,' is that enough notice when the board uses the meeting to retire and replace the superintendent?
No. The Delmar School District Board of Education accepted the superintendent's retirement, placed her on administrative leave, and appointed an interim, all at the December 13, 2022 meeting. The agen…
Does a Delaware city have to post a separate online notice for a special-use permit hearing, or is the regular meeting agenda enough?
The agenda is enough. Delaware City posted notice of its February 27, 2023 Mayor and Council meeting online with an agenda showing a 6:00 p.m. public hearing on the Marina Village special-use permit. …
Can a Delaware town council reach consensus on public business through emails between three of four members?
Two violations. The Town of Ellendale violated FOIA (1) by failing to show that an agenda for the January 30, 2023 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting was properly posted, and (2) by Council use of…
Can a Delaware city council go into executive session and pick a replacement for a vacant council seat by secret written ballot, then return to open session for a unanimous public vote?
The Wilmington City Council Committee of the Whole violated FOIA. At its November 28, 2022 and February 1, 2023 meetings to fill vacant At-Large and First District Council seats, the Committee intervi…
Can a Delaware board legally hold a virtual meeting where the public can only listen by phone?
Yes. The AG ruled the Delaware Board of Elections did not violate FOIA when its January 9, 2023 virtual meeting was held by phone only. Section 10006A requires only that the public be able to monitor …
Can a Delaware state retiree get the State's Medicfill contract through FOIA, or can the State withhold it because RiseDelaware sued over the Medicare Advantage switch?
The State Employee Benefits Committee released the Medicfill contract in redacted form. Steven LePage, a retiree, said the redactions blocked him from understanding his benefits. The AG ruled the reda…
Are the contracts of the Trustees of the New Castle Common public records under Delaware FOIA?
Yes. The Trustees of the New Castle Common are a public body (per 17-IB34) and violated FOIA by failing to produce two contracts: one with Antonio Lawn and Landscape and one with the New Castle Weekly…
Can someone ask Delaware DHSS for the full animal-cruelty complaint report under FOIA, and does that change if the report identifies the suspect and the witnesses?
No. Christiane Marchio asked DHSS for an animal-welfare complaint report. The complaint report (a LEISS report) names the suspect and complainants and is the basis for the investigatory file. The AG r…
Can Delaware deny a FOIA request just because the requester moved out of state, even if the records do not exist anyway?
The Department of Finance was right that the audio and video of three Retirement Benefit Study Committee meetings did not exist. The AG accepted a sworn affidavit on that point and held no FOIA violat…
What can a Delaware agency charge me to fulfill an email FOIA request?
No violation, with caveats. The AG ruled DOE's email FOIA cost estimate complied with FOIA: DTI's $38/hr retrieval and scrubbing was permitted under § 10003(i), and DOE could later charge for redactio…
If a Delaware county denies a FOIA request saying 'no records exist,' what proof does it need to provide, and can a sworn affidavit from one engineer end the dispute?
Yes, generally. The Sussex County Engineer signed two sworn affidavits attesting that all responsive records had been provided for the first request and that no records existed responsive to the secon…
Can a Delaware board vote in public on 'administrative action discussed in executive session' without identifying which employee, when there are only three employees in the agency?
Yes, in narrow circumstances. The DIAA Board has only three employees. Naming the employee in the public motion would have exposed private personnel information about an identifiable individual. The A…
Does Delaware recognize a deliberative process privilege that lets DNREC withhold raw PFAS sampling data from FOIA?
No. DNREC violated FOIA by denying AP reporter Randall Chase access to raw PFAS sampling data and related internal correspondence under a deliberative process privilege theory. Delaware courts have no…
When a Delaware agency invites stakeholders to advise on policy changes, do those meetings have to be open to the public?
Yes, when the group is appointed by a public official and charged with making recommendations. The Parks Director's surf-fishing Stakeholder Workgroup met four times to develop recommendations for the…
Can a city council president use a FOIA petition to allege that three other councilmembers held secret meetings about a tourism director hire, and what does the AG do when the suspicion seems plausible but everyone swears it didn't happen?
Affidavits win. Council President Michael Platt alleged that three other New Castle City Council members coordinated outside public meetings to flip the tourism-director hire. The three swore under oa…
What can I do if a Delaware public body just ignores my FOIA request?
It is a FOIA violation, and a recurring one. The AG ruled the Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corporation violated FOIA by ignoring two audit records requests, ordered a 10-day estimate, an…
Can a Delaware agency withhold an employee settlement agreement as a 'personnel file' just because the dispute went through the Merit Employee Relations Board?
Not automatically. DNREC initially withheld a $94,066 settlement with a former Planner IV under the personnel-file exemption because the dispute came from a MERB grievance, but on a second look it agr…
Are settlement agreements that the University of Delaware enters with employees or others available under FOIA, or can UDel withhold them because the settlements weren't paid from State money?
UDel can withhold them. Delaware FOIA only covers two slices of UDel: full Board of Trustees meetings, and University documents that 'relate to the expenditure of public funds.' UDel's general counsel…
Can a Delaware agency charge a $198 cost estimate to compile records that the requester believes should be readily available?
Yes, when the agency justifies the estimate. DelDOT supplied a sworn affidavit from the Chief of Right of Way explaining tab sheets are not in a centralized file, identifying the lowest-paid employees…
If a Delaware school board member has been elected but not yet sworn in, can that person sit in on an executive session?
Yes, narrowly. Victor James Leonard, Sr. was elected to the Red Clay Consolidated School Board on May 10, 2022, with a term beginning July 1, 2022. He attended two executive sessions on July 11 and 13…
Can an insurance company defending a fraud claim get Wilmington police body camera and street surveillance footage under FOIA?
Mixed. The City of Wilmington properly withheld three officers' body camera footage of a motor vehicle accident under § 10002(o)(3) (investigatory files compiled for civil or criminal law-enforcement …
If a Delaware public body recorded its meeting, can I get the recording even after a related lawsuit is filed?
Yes. The AG ruled the State Employee Benefits Committee violated FOIA by withholding the September 19, 2022 meeting recording. Once a public body records a public meeting, the recording is treated lik…
Can a Delaware city council take a discussion of police overtime, vacation, and city-vehicle use into a private executive session, and does the council have to put detailed background materials in the public meeting packet?
Not all of it. Dover City Council voted to defer Item 27 (special-event overtime, vacation, and city-vehicle usage) to a future executive session. The AG warned the Council that a general discussion o…
If a Delaware department says it will 'undertake to identify' people with responsive records and 'provide a cost estimate,' does that count as a FOIA response within the 15-day clock?
The Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security violated FOIA. It missed the 15-business-day deadline entirely, then said in an email after the petition was filed that it 'will undertake to id…
Can a Delaware journalist get a count of inmate deaths broken down by cause and facility under FOIA?
Yes, violation. The Department of Correction provided a log of inmate deaths with names and dates but redacted cause of death citing medical privacy. The DOC's affidavit explained how it produced the …
How long can a Delaware agency keep extending the deadline on a FOIA request, and at what point does repeated 'thirty more days' become bad faith?
Six months and five identical 30-business-day extensions were not bad faith here. Karl Baker requested 13 years of contracts between the Delaware Department of Insurance and Zack Stamp Consulting LLC.…
Can a Delaware governor's office invoke the pending-litigation FOIA exemption when the office itself is not a party to the lawsuit?
Yes, where the governor exercises authority over the actual litigants and the requester is a litigant trying to use FOIA as discovery. The AG ruled the Office of the Governor properly denied a 9-categ…
Can a Delaware journalist get the date of death of a homicide victim from the medical examiner's office under FOIA?
No. The date of a homicide victim's death is recorded in the post-mortem report (exempt as an investigatory file under § 10002(o)(3)) and on the death certificate (statutorily confidential for 40 year…
What happens when a Delaware agency simply ignores a FOIA request and the AG's request for a response?
Yes, violation. The Office of the Auditor of Accounts violated FOIA by failing to respond at all to Jack Guerin's July 29, 2022 request for policy work products by My Campaign Group, Innovative Consul…
When a Delaware council majority avoids a public meeting by signing checks at private offices in series, is that a FOIA violation?
Yes. A quorum of the Georgetown Town Council violated FOIA when three councilmembers used serial private visits at one councilmember's workplace to sign and deliver a $24,750 grant check to the George…
If a state public corporation says committee meeting minutes are exempt because they discuss confidential financial information, can it skip a sworn search?
The Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corporation violated FOIA. The FDRPC's counsel argued, in an unsworn correction to its Response, that no Finance Committee meeting actually occurred to d…
Does it count as a Delaware FOIA violation if the request goes to a former coordinator's spam folder?
No. The AG ruled the City of Harrington did not violate FOIA when the request reached a former FOIA coordinator's email and ended up in spam, because the new coordinator regularly checked that mailbox…
What can I do if a Delaware advisory committee never posted minutes for its meetings?
It is a FOIA violation. The AG ruled the Childhood Lead Poisoning Committee and its subcommittees violated 29 Del. C. § 10004(f) by not maintaining or posting minutes for many 2021 and 2022 meetings, …
Does Delaware FOIA require school boards to give a public comment period, and how much advance notice must they give if a meeting time is moved up by an hour?
FOIA does not require a public comment period (other laws may). But a rescheduled meeting needs at least 24 hours' notice and a written explanation. The Caesar Rodney School Board changed its April 12…
Can DelDOT use 'potential litigation' to deny every record about a development dispute, including the entire DelDOT manual?
No. The AG ruled DelDOT couldn't use 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9) as a blanket bar to records about a Sussex County subdivision's propane lines, the streets dedication, and every edition of DelDOT's Devel…
What happens if a Delaware agency misses the 15-day FOIA deadline but eventually responds with an affidavit?
Mooted. The AG ruled the Delaware Auditor of Accounts missed the 15-business-day deadline to respond to a FOIA request about its pharmacist provider-status report, but the petition was moot once AOA l…
Can a Delaware town council vote on raises and a water-line project that aren't on the meeting agenda?
No. The AG ruled the Town of Blades violated FOIA by voting on employee bonuses, cost-of-living raises, and a water-line extension that never appeared on the meeting agenda, and by discussing general …
Must Wilmington compile a custom Excel of parking ticket data with appeal status if no single record contains all the requested fields?
No. The City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA when it produced an Excel of parking ticket data missing some fields Markham requested (date of appeal, ruling on appeal, court hearing dates). The City…
Does a Delaware General Assembly committee have to provide an in-person 'anchor location' for a virtual hearing, and can a witness file a FOIA petition if she gets cut off after testifying?
Mostly outside FOIA scope. The Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee held a fully virtual meeting on June 15, 2022. Janice Lorrah's three claims (no anchor location, voting outside meeting…
Can a contractor with claims pending before the DelDOT Claims Committee use FOIA to gather DelDOT's TIFIA loan records, or is that pending litigation under FOIA?
DelDOT did not violate FOIA. The contractor's claim review process under DelDOT contract Section 105.15 (claim filed, response, hearing before a five-member Claims Committee with evidence and a writte…
What can a Delaware municipality charge for FOIA fees, and does it have to post meeting agendas online?
Mixed result. The Town of Blades violated FOIA on the records side: it charged a $50 'Additional Labor Fee' plus attorney research fees on a denied request without first sending an itemized written co…
If four members of a thirteen-member city council meet at a councilmember's house, is that a 'meeting' under Delaware's open-meetings law?
No prima facie violation. Wilmington City Council requires seven members for a quorum, not three. The Petition only showed meetings of up to four councilmembers, which by itself does not establish a F…
Can a Delaware city charge a journalist a $45-per-hour fee to find ten years of grant records?
Yes, after correction. The AG ruled the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA on its 10-year contract/grant request once it corrected its initial $45 hourly rate to $22.45, the rate of the lowest-pa…
Can a Delaware city redact the resumes of people nominated to volunteer boards under FOIA?
Mostly no. The AG ruled the City of Newark failed to justify heavy redactions on volunteer board nominees' resumes; volunteer board members are more like candidates for public office than job applican…
Can a Delaware school board discuss substitute teacher pay rates in executive session under the personnel exception?
No. The Sussex County Vo-Tech Board violated FOIA when it discussed raising substitute compensation (Class A from $116 to $179, Class B from $99 to $143, Class C from $74 to $113 per day) in executive…
Can a Delaware agency refuse to release records about how it killed a bird flu flock by claiming veterinary privilege and a federal Privacy Act exemption?
Not without specifics. The Department of Agriculture pointed at the federal Privacy Act, the Delaware veterinary-confidentiality statute, the FOIA investigatory-files exemption, and the working-draft …
Does a Delaware Budget Committee violate FOIA when a quorum meets without public notice to discuss employee bonuses?
Yes. The City of Harrington's Budget Committee violated FOIA's open meeting requirements when a quorum (two of three members) met privately on February 22, 2022 with the City Manager, Chief of Police,…
Can a journalist get use-of-force data, prison reports, and video-retention policies from the Delaware Department of Correction under FOIA?
DOC properly withheld the use-of-force data and reports because they pertain to pending federal litigation against DOC employees (Davis v. Neal). DOC failed on its statutory and investigatory-file def…
Can a Delaware state office shield audit working papers from a FOIA request just by calling them confidential?
No. The AG ruled the Delaware Office of the Auditor of Accounts violated FOIA by redacting audit working papers without citing any Delaware statute or case law that recognizes a working-papers privile…
Can a Delaware town split a public comment period across two meetings and still meet open-meeting rules?
No clear violation. The AG could not find a FOIA violation by Fenwick Island when its public comment period for a low-speed vehicle ordinance was split between a hearing and the next Council meeting, …
Can a Delaware lawyer get police accident reports for officer-involved crashes through FOIA, or are uniform traffic collision reports exempt?
Wilmington did not violate FOIA. Uniform traffic collision reports are statutorily exempt under 21 Del. C. § 313(b) (incorporated into FOIA through § 10002(o)(6)), and they also fall within the invest…
When a Delaware agency claims it produced everything responsive to a FOIA request, what proof must it provide?
Yes. The Office of the Auditor of Accounts (AOA) violated FOIA by failing to include a sworn affidavit describing its search efforts. AOA produced two statements of work in response to a contracts/RFP…
Can a Delaware village resident FOIA the home addresses and phone numbers of all eligible voters in the village?
The AG declined to decide. Whether voter home addresses and phone numbers are public typically turns on whether they are made publicly available through other Delaware election laws (like 15 Del. C. §…
Can a Delaware village hold a fully virtual public meeting during the COVID emergency, and is an agenda that just lists 'officer reports' and 'old business' enough to satisfy FOIA?
Two of the three FOIA claims succeeded. The Village was allowed to hold a fully virtual meeting in March 2022 because Delaware was still under a public-health state of emergency. But it failed to prov…
Can a Delaware agency satisfy a FOIA request by sending a link to the source webpage instead of attaching the records?
Yes. The AG ruled the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services did not violate FOIA when it answered a request for records supporting a COVID-19 booster effectiveness claim by providing links…
When DMV's database can't easily search 2.5 million records, can DelDOT charge me for a DTI programmer to write a custom search?
Yes. DelDOT's DMV runs on a 20-year-old DOS-based system. Without a custom DTI program, manually finding salvage-certificate records would have cost $9 million and taken one employee 200 years. DelDOT…
Can a Delaware agency withhold all PFAS test results and internal emails about a statutorily required drinking-water survey by labeling everything a 'working draft'?
No. Delaware's working-draft exemption protects actual draft documents and emails proposing specific revisions to those drafts, but it does not cover raw test data or internal communications that aren…
Can a Delaware family obtain DHSS investigation records about a long-term care facility incident under FOIA?
No. DHSS properly denied a family member's FOIA request for all records relating to an alleged assault at a long-term care facility. The Division of Health Care Quality (DHCQ) investigates abuse, negl…
Are a Delaware captive insurance company's financial statements and dividend records public records under FOIA?
No. The Delaware Department of Insurance properly denied a request for Brighthouse Reinsurance Company of Delaware's annual and quarterly financial statements and dividend records. Those records were …
If a Delaware charter school's Board committee gets renamed as a 'team' that includes some former committee members, does the rebranded group escape FOIA's open-meeting requirements?
No. The Charter School of Wilmington restructured its Advancement Committee and called the new group an 'Advancement Team' that met December 3, 2021 without notice or minutes. The school admitted its …
Can a Delaware public body hold an executive session before its publicly noticed meeting starts?
Yes, violation. The Diamond State Port Corporation Board held an executive session an hour before its noticed January 21, 2022 meeting start time, with no agenda mention of the executive session and n…
If you ask one Delaware agency for crime statistics they don't have, can you complain when they tell you no, even if a different state agency has the data?
Mooted out. Amanda Fries asked DELJIS for 2020 and 2021 juvenile crime statistics. DELJIS doesn't compile that report; the Delaware State Police's State Bureau of Identification (SBI) does, for the FB…
Can a Delaware agency hide an entire DMV form from FOIA just because part of it contains personal information?
Partial violation. The AG ruled DelDOT violated FOIA by issuing a blanket denial of all MV215 salvage certificate forms based on the DMV privacy statute. Some portions of the forms are not 'personal i…
Are records of Delaware's Domestic Violence Fatal Incident Review process public?
No. The AG ruled the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council properly denied a Delaware Online reporter's request for the High Risk Team's documentation of a victim killed in 2021. 13 Del. C. § 2105(h)…
If two extra Delaware school board members show up at a board committee meeting and a quorum is suddenly present, do they have to cancel the meeting?
No, but the Board's caution wasn't a FOIA violation either. The Board Policy Review Committee adjourned the October 27, 2021 meeting when two non-Committee Board members appeared as the public, creati…
Can I force DelDOT to produce small cell permits I think exist when DelDOT swears under oath there are none?
No. DelDOT's Utility Engineer signed an affidavit saying he personally reviewed the records, the database, and the requester's photographic evidence and could find no responsive records of unpermitted…
If a Delaware city blows the 15-day FOIA deadline but eventually answers, can the AG still find a violation, or does the late response moot the petition?
The AG declared the petition moot. Wilmington had told Mr. Bittle within 15 business days that it needed more time, but it failed to give one of the statutory reasons (voluminous records, legal advice…
Can a Tesla customer FOIA the Delaware DOT for every record mentioning Tesla while Tesla itself is suing DOT over a denied dealership license?
No. Alan McKersie filed a FOIA request copying language Tesla had already used in failed discovery and that another Tesla consultant had already FOIA'd. The metadata showed the consultant authored the…
Does a Delaware FOIA coordinator's typo on a response email count as a FOIA violation?
No. The AG concluded Christina School District did not violate FOIA when its coordinator mistakenly addressed the response email to herself within the 15-day window, then promptly corrected the error …
Can a Delaware citizen FOIA an entire county's worth of ballots and voting equipment after a general election?
No. The AG ruled the Delaware Department of Elections properly denied a sweeping request for ballots, voting machine data, and poll books from the 2020 New Castle County general election. The over-380…
If a journalist is investigating how a Delaware city's tow contractor handles impounded cars, can the city deny her FOIA request because a federal civil rights lawsuit on the same topic was filed yesterday?
Yes. Amanda Fries of The News Journal asked Wilmington for impound and sale records covering 2016-2021. The day before her requests, the City was served with a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging th…
Can a Delaware nonprofit petition the AG over a FOIA denial when the underlying records request was filed by a board member personally and never mentioned the organization?
No. Under 29 Del. C. § 10005(b), the right to petition the AG belongs only to the citizen who was actually denied access. Smith filed the original FOIA individually, with no mention of Coastal Steward…
What information does a Delaware FOIA coordinator have to record about every FOIA request the agency receives?
Yes, a violation. The AG ruled the Delaware Auditor of Accounts (AOA) failed for over three years and across two administrations to maintain FOIA logs containing all the information § 10003(g)(3) requ…
Are emails about a draft government contract still secret if the draft was never shown to a board?
Yes for the draft and any draft language buried in emails. The AG ruled the Diamond State Port Corporation could use the working-draft exception, but only for the proposed contract language and revisi…
Must Delaware DHSS create a new COVID case-count report by school district when historical web data has been destroyed by a vendor?
No. DHSS properly denied a request for weekly COVID case counts by school district from August 2020 to August 2021. The data was previously hosted on a third-party 'My Healthy Community' website opera…
Does Delaware's FOIA open-meeting law cover the House of Representatives Ethics Committee, and can the AG decide a prior-restraint free-speech challenge inside a FOIA complaint?
No to both. 29 Del. C. § 10004(h)(7) expressly excludes legislative ethics committees from FOIA's open-meeting requirements, so the Committee's closed September 10, 2021 meeting did not violate FOIA. …
How long can a Delaware county take to fulfill a FOIA request for emails on a controversial topic?
No violation. The AG ruled New Castle County's repeated time extensions to process 2,158 emails responsive to a councilmember's keyword search complied with FOIA, because each extension fell within th…
Can a Delaware agency charge me $2,374 to have its Director of Community Relations sift through 3,801 emails one-by-one for my FOIA request?
No, not without explaining why a director-level employee was the only person who could do the work. The Department of State quoted $2,374 for the Director to review emails about Gulftainer and the Por…
Can a Delaware school board hold no-confidence and mask-mandate votes under a vague '2021-2022 School Year' agenda heading without separate notice?
The Indian River School District Board of Education violated FOIA. Its August 22, 2021 agenda listed only '2021-2022 School Year (D)' for discussion. Two votes followed: one expressing no confidence i…
Can a port operator's lawyer use FOIA to gather DNREC records about other Delaware companies' permits while the operator's own permit-violation appeal is pending?
DNREC did not violate FOIA. The records request, faxed from a number identified as Elliott Greenleaf (the law firm representing GT USA Wilmington in a pending Environmental Appeals Board appeal of DNR…
Can DNREC keep septic-inspection records secret while it investigates a Lewes manufactured-home community?
Yes. The investigatory files exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3) covers DNREC's septic-inspection records of a Lewes community where DNREC has issued a notice of violation and is pursuing enforcemen…
Can a Washington, DC lawyer working for Tesla file a Delaware FOIA request for DelDOT's records about Tesla's motor vehicle dealer license dispute?
No. Delaware FOIA only guarantees access to citizens of Delaware. The petitioner conceded she was not a Delaware citizen, so DelDOT's denial on that basis was proper. The AG also flagged that the peti…
Can a Delaware town council 'poll' its members by email and phone to decide whether to close for a holiday, instead of voting at a public meeting?
The Town of Georgetown violated FOIA. The Town Manager polled all five council members by email and phone on whether to close for Juneteenth 2021. Three said no, two said yes. The Town Manager then an…
Does an executive-branch advisory council have to follow Delaware open-meetings rules?
Yes. The AG ruled the Governor's Council on Agriculture (created by 29 Del. C. § 8108) and the Delaware Council on Food and Farm Policy (created by the Department Secretary) are both public bodies tha…
Can a Delaware agency stack four separate FOIA exemptions to refuse my request for records about a private developer's traffic study?
Partially. The AG ruled DelDOT violated FOIA by failing to back its attorney-client privilege, work-product, and pending-litigation claims with an affidavit, but the working-draft exemption did shield…
Does Sussex County violate FOIA when its Industrial Revenue Bond Committee posts hearing notices physically on the Administration Building without strong electronic notice?
No. The Delaware AG ruled Sussex County did not violate FOIA by physically posting notice and agenda for its March 17, 2021 Industrial Revenue Bond Committee hearing on a Seaford gas facility. FOIA ex…
Can a Delaware agency charge me $1,855 to maybe see vendor audits and warn that records may turn out to be exempt anyway?
Yes, the estimate was lawful. The Delaware AG ruled that DHSS did not violate FOIA when it provided an itemized $1,855.74 cost estimate for Connections vendor audits and reports. But the AG strongly c…
Can Delaware's Department of Agriculture refuse to let me copy or take notes on a CAFO farm's permit and notice of intent, just letting me look at it?
DDA violated FOIA by not justifying its denial. Nutrient-management and animal-waste plans are statutorily confidential under 3 Del. C. § 2247(c), so DDA could withhold those. But DDA never explained …
Can a Maryland-based researcher use Delaware FOIA or 18 Del. C. § 314 to get captive-insurance-company licenses?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Department of Insurance properly denied a Maryland-based researcher's FOIA request for licenses of captive insurance companies. Delaware FOIA is citizens-only. The AG dec…
If I'm a Delaware inmate, can I use FOIA to get my own commissary or inmate-account records, or DOC policies?
No. The Delaware AG ruled DOC properly denied an inmate's FOIA request for commissary records, inmate-account records, and DOC policies. 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(13) categorically exempts any DOC record …
Can a private insurer use Delaware FOIA to dig up Department of Insurance records during a pending lawsuit and a Department examination hearing?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Department of Insurance properly denied a 16-part FOIA request from GEICO's counsel, treating the request as an attempt to bypass discovery in the pending Green Litigatio…
If I never received a response to a Delaware FOIA request, can I file a complaint, and what happens if the agency proves it actually did respond on time?
No FOIA violation. Although the petitioner believed no response had arrived, the City of Wilmington produced records showing it emailed its FOIA response on February 3, 2021, which was within the fift…
Can someone in Delaware FOIA a copy of the police complaint that was filed against them?
No. The AG concluded that a criminal complaint filed against the requester is part of an investigatory file and categorically excluded from FOIA, even when the complaint is later found without merit. …
Can a Delaware journalist FOIA the fire marshal's records of a years-old, undetermined fire investigation that the agency claims is still technically open?
No. Wilmington's Fire Marshal investigators are law-enforcement officers, the criminal statute of limitations on arson had not yet run, and the Court of Chancery has held in News-Journal Co. v. Billin…
If I ask Delaware for prepared speech remarks and they say none exist, can the AG order them to give me the meeting minutes and slide decks instead?
No. The AG ruled the Division of Corporations did not violate FOIA when it told Jordan Howell no 'prepared remarks' from the 2020 Executive Strategic Planning Conference existed. Conference minutes an…
Does an email I send to a Delaware mayor or town manager asking for documents automatically count as a FOIA request, or do I have to use the city's specific form?
Not automatically. The AG ruled Craig O'Donnell's October 2020 emails to Delaware City's Mayor and City Manager did not trigger FOIA's timelines because they were sent to the wrong person and never sa…
Does a Delaware school board need to specifically notice its agenda before voting to appoint a superintendent?
Yes. The AG ruled Sussex Technical School District violated FOIA when it voted to appoint a superintendent under a generic 'Personnel Action Items' agenda label. The Board was directed to revisit the …
If I'm a member of the public body being sued, can I use Delaware FOIA to see communications between my own group and its lawyer about settling the case?
No. The AG ruled the Village of Arden's Town Assembly properly denied Warren Rosenkranz's request for communications about the in-progress trust settlement of an estate-bequest lawsuit. The pending-li…
Can a Delaware attorney FOIA prison surveillance video and inmate disciplinary records?
No. The AG ruled DOC properly withheld correctional facility surveillance footage under the security exemption (§ 10002(l)(17)) and inmate disciplinary records under 11 Del. C. § 4322(a) (case records…
Can a Delaware agency invoke 'legal review' as a response extension within minutes of receiving my FOIA request and then go silent for weeks?
Practically not. The AG ruled William Paskey's timeliness petition was moot because DSHS finally produced the off-duty firearms policies, but cautioned DSHS that immediately invoking a legal-review ex…
Can a Delaware public body avoid producing a former official's text messages by saying they're gone from her phone?
Yes. The AG ruled DelDOT did not violate FOIA when its former Secretary's text messages about real estate transactions were no longer on her personal phone, accepting counsel's representation as a def…
Can a Delaware public body list 'review financial data' on its agenda as a reason it might go into closed executive session?
No. The AG ruled the DAPE Finance Committee committed a technical FOIA violation when its November 10, 2020 agenda listed 'financial data' as a possible executive session purpose, because § 10004(b) d…
Can a Delaware county say my FOIA request for an arrest warrant is denied because 'we are not bound by FOIA' and demand a subpoena instead?
Not for that reason. The AG ruled the New Castle County Division of Police was wrong to claim FOIA didn't apply, but the denial still stood because the County submitted a sworn affidavit that it does …
Can two school board members negotiate with a new superintendent privately, then bring the contract back to the full board for a vote?
Generally no, when the two-member group has been formally tasked with selecting and negotiating. The AG ruled that the Christina School Board's two-member committee that negotiated a superintendent's …
Does Delaware FOIA cover a city council president's decision to declare a colleague's seat forfeited and to lock him out of public meetings?
No. The AG ruled the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA when its Council President sent a letter declaring a councilmember's seat forfeited for residency reasons and barred him from a virtual pub…
Does Delaware's open meetings law require a state agency to take live public comment at a virtual permit hearing if it lets the applicant give a live presentation?
No. The AG ruled DNREC did not violate FOIA when it ran two 2020 virtual permit hearings (Delaware City Refining and Croda) without live public comment, accepting only written comments. Permit hearing…
Can a Delaware city add the name of a Board nominee to a meeting agenda only a few days before the vote, without explaining the late amendment?
No. Delaware FOIA requires agendas seven days in advance and amendments only up to six hours before with a stated reason for the delay (29 Del. C. § 10004(e)). Rehoboth Beach amended the August 21, 20…
How fast does a Delaware city have to respond to a FOIA request, and does showing me the file once cover all my future requests for records in that file?
Delaware FOIA requires a response within 15 business days (29 Del. C. § 10003(h)). Rehoboth Beach violated FOIA by responding to two of Vivari's requests months late and by treating a February 2020 fi…
Can a Delaware public body charge me for the staff time it takes to redact exempt information from records I requested?
No. The AG ruled the Wilmington Neighborhood Conservancy Land Bank violated FOIA when its $640 cost estimate included a charge for staff time spent reviewing whether portions of records were exempt. U…
Can a Delaware administrative board deliberate in private even when FOIA's open-meeting rules would otherwise require the public to watch?
Yes. The AG ruled the Environmental Appeals Board did not violate FOIA when it deliberated on a Delmarsh, LLC appeal in executive session, because 7 Del. C. § 6008(a) is a later-enacted, more specific…
Can a Delaware city refuse a FOIA request for police grant applications by saying the federal agency that received them is now the only proper custodian?
No. The AG ruled the City of Wilmington violated FOIA when it denied Jeanne Kuang's request for federal grant applications submitted by Wilmington Police, claiming the federal agency was the sole cust…
Does Delaware FOIA require a town council to take up a particular issue at a public meeting before the town manager or solicitor can act on it?
No. The AG ruled FOIA does not dictate when a public body must take up a matter of public business. Councilmember Vicki Carmean's complaint that Fenwick Island Town officials approved an open pool bar…
Can a national news organization use Delaware FOIA to demand the Biden senatorial papers themselves from the University of Delaware Library?
No. The University of Delaware is FOIA-able only on full-Board-of-Trustees meetings and records relating to public-fund expenditures (§ 10002(i)). The papers themselves are not university documents ab…
Does Delaware FOIA cover University of Delaware records about Joe Biden's senatorial papers stored at the UD library?
No. The University of Delaware is subject to Delaware FOIA only for full Board of Trustees meetings and records 'relating to the expenditure of public funds.' UD attested under oath that no public fun…
If a Delaware city responds to my FOIA request slowly and I think the delay was deliberate to keep documents out of a public hearing, will the AG investigate?
No. The AG ruled Jeremy Rothwell's timeliness complaint against the City of Harrington was moot once the City eventually produced records, and refused to resolve the disputed allegation that the FOIA …
If a Delaware agency finally answers my FOIA request only after I file a complaint about its delay, can the AG still find a violation?
No. The AG ruled Jeffrey Clouser's FOIA petition against the Delaware State Police was moot because DSP issued its denial on the same day the petition was filed. The AG also reminded petitioners that …
If a Delaware police agency doesn't keep aggregate ballistics statistics, can a journalist FOIA that count?
No. The AG concluded the Delaware State Police did not violate FOIA when it refused to produce five years of bullet and casing counts, because FOIA does not force an agency to compile a new record fro…
If a Delaware agency typed my email address wrong and never delivered its FOIA response on time, did it violate FOIA?
No. The AG ruled New Castle County did not violate FOIA when its 15-day response email to Julie Nay bounced because the County mistyped her address. Once the County re-sent the records and the documen…
If a Delaware agency tells me a record I asked for doesn't exist, can the AG order them to produce it anyway?
No. The AG ruled the Delaware State Police did not violate FOIA when it told Scott Becker that the requested 2019 firearms-transaction annual report did not exist. SBI had shut down its firearms appro…
Can a Delaware agency tell me 'no' on a FOIA request because the report I want hasn't been written yet?
Yes. The AG ruled DNREC did not violate FOIA by responding that the requested site-safety report did not yet exist. Delaware FOIA never requires a public body to create a record; once the agency told …
Can a Delaware FOIA request force a state agency to write custom database queries and review thousands of police reports to compile statistics that don't already exist?
No. The AG ruled DELJIS did not violate FOIA when it refused to perform extensive custom programming and manual record review to compile firearm-arrest statistics for Scott Becker. FOIA does not requi…
Can a Delaware agency refuse a FOIA request when the records relate to an ongoing administrative proceeding the requester is involved in?
Yes. The AG ruled DNREC did not violate FOIA by denying Gary Myers's request for renewable-energy cost data, because the records pertained to a quasi-judicial Public Service Commission proceeding in w…
Can a Delaware school board add a controversial agenda item like a censure vote a few hours before its meeting?
Yes, in narrow circumstances. The AG ruled that adding a board member censure resolution to the agenda seven hours before a meeting did not violate FOIA, because the news story prompting the censure h…
If a Delaware county invokes the litigation exemption sloppily and missed the response deadline, is that still a FOIA violation?
Yes, technically. The Delaware AG ruled New Castle County violated FOIA by failing to give a permitted extension reason and good-faith time estimate when responding to James Owen's FOIA request about …
Does Delaware FOIA reach the Delaware River and Bay Authority's executive sessions?
No. The Delaware AG dismissed the petition, ruling the Delaware River and Bay Authority is a bi-state entity created by interstate compact between Delaware and New Jersey. Neither state can unilateral…
Can a California-based documentary filmmaker use Delaware FOIA to investigate state pet-food regulation?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Delaware Department of Agriculture properly denied California documentary filmmaker Kohl Harrington's FOIA requests for AAFCO-related staff emails and DDA's FOIA log. Har…
Does a Seaford BOA agenda violate FOIA when it lists a variance by tax parcel number rather than street address?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Seaford Board of Adjustment did not violate FOIA when its December 4, 2019 agenda identified a variance by case number, applicant name, business name, business activity, …
Can a Delaware agency invoke the 'pending or potential litigation' FOIA exemption based on a lawyer's threat to sue if the agency doesn't act?
Yes. Delaware's pending-or-potential-litigation exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(9)) applies when (1) litigation is likely or reasonably foreseeable and (2) there is a clear nexus between the records …
Can a Delaware charter school board's subcommittee hold an executive session, or is that authority reserved for the full board?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled the Odyssey Charter School Nominating Committee, as a public-body subcommittee of the Board, can notice an executive session under FOIA for an authorized purpose. The Commit…
Can I FOIA Delaware's Office of Animal Welfare for the name and address of someone who filed an animal-control complaint about my property?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Division of Public Health properly denied Laura Allen's request for animal-control complaint records targeting her address. The Office of Animal Welfare's complaints, com…
Can a Delaware charter-school board hold a meeting in a locked building, and can it go into executive session without putting that on the agenda?
Mostly no. The Odyssey Charter School Board violated FOIA by holding an executive session at the December 3, 2019 meeting without including it on the agenda (29 Del. C. § 10002(a)). The locked-buildin…
Is the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, the state's economic-development nonprofit, subject to FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP), the State's economic-development public/private partnership, is not a 'public body' under FOIA. Its enabling statute expressly stat…
Can a Delaware county refuse to tell me whether my property is 'flagged' in the 911 system as a danger to first responders?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled New Castle County properly withheld 911 'flag' information for George X's property under § 10002(l)(17). Records that warn first responders of dangers and outline response s…
Can DelDOT withhold draft property appraisals during eminent-domain negotiations as 'potential litigation' records?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled DelDOT did not violate FOIA when it withheld draft property appraisals and communications with its appraiser during eminent-domain negotiations with Ocean One Holdings. The …
Can a Minnesota-based third-party claims administrator force a Delaware city to hand over a contractor's certificate of insurance under FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the City of Wilmington properly denied Richard Stifter's request for a contractor's certificate of insurance because Stifter, a Minnesota-based third-party claims admini…
Can a Delaware county refuse to give me employee internet-usage records because my husband is fighting his county termination?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled Sussex County properly denied Stephanie Lynch's FOIA requests for employee internet-usage reports under the pending or potential litigation exemption. Lynch's husband, a rec…
If a Delaware school board's vice president emails individual members for interview-question suggestions, is that a 'meeting' under FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Christina School District Board did not violate FOIA when its Vice President individually invited members to email interview questions for board-vacancy candidates. …
Can a Delaware school board fill a vacant seat by secret-ballot vote in open session?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Christina School District Board violated FOIA on October 8, 2019 by voting on its board vacancy by secret ballot in open session. FOIA requires minutes to record eac…
Can a Delaware police department withhold automated gunshot-detection data by saying every alert now starts a criminal investigation?
Yes, after April 2017. The Delaware AG ruled Wilmington Police properly invoked the investigatory-files exemption for ShotSpotter activation records dated after April 2017, when the City started auto-…
Can a Delaware agency hide police compensation records by tossing in three FOIA exemptions without explaining how any of them apply?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that DSHS violated FOIA by denying News Journal reporter Xerxes Wilson's request for Office of Highway Safety pay records to former Newport Police Chief Capriglione and other…
Can a Delaware agency charge me $3,665 to search for migratory-bird records, and does FOIA make the FOIA Coordinator answer my follow-up questions?
Yes to the cost estimate. The Delaware AG ruled DNREC properly itemized $3,665.36 in administrative fees backed by a sworn affidavit that the lowest-paid capable employees were assigned. The FOIA Coor…
If my spouse files FOIA requests and gets denied, can I petition the Delaware AG on her behalf?
No. Delaware FOIA's right to sue or petition belongs only to the citizen who was actually denied records. The four FOIA requests at issue were submitted to Sussex County by Stephanie Lynch, but the pe…
Can a Delaware city council preemptively bar a citizen from speaking at public comment because of profanity used at a prior meeting?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the City of Wilmington violated FOIA by preemptively barring Dion Wilson from speaking at the September 19, 2019 public comment period because of profanity he used at th…
If a Delaware county council posts its meeting notice at 5:35 PM after the building closes, does that violate FOIA's seven-day rule?
No. The Delaware AG ruled Sussex County Council did not violate FOIA when it posted its September 24, 2019 meeting notice at 5:35 PM on September 17, 2019, after the Administration Building closed. FO…
Can a Delaware agency hide federal-agency records by claiming they are part of someone else's law enforcement investigation?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that DNREC violated FOIA by denying AP reporter Randall Chase's request for PFAS water-monitoring records. DNREC could not invoke the investigatory-files exemption based on t…
If a Delaware public body's agenda labels an item by complainant type rather than the actual school or activity, is that a FOIA notice violation?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled DIAA's Sportsmanship Committee violated FOIA by listing the agenda item as 'Sportsmanship Complaint – Parent,' which gave no clue the discussion concerned Concord High Schoo…
Is a Delaware county 'working group' picked by the County Administrator subject to FOIA's open meeting rules?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled Sussex County's Buffers and Wetlands Working Group is a 'public body' under FOIA. The County Administrator picked the members, and the group was charged with making recommen…
Does Delaware FOIA make my agency convert raw data from HTML to CSV when I ask for it as a database file?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that DSP did not violate FOIA when it produced 2014-2016 Uniform Crime Reporting data as HTML files rather than the CSV or database format the journalist requested. FOIA does…
If a Delaware town commissioner blurts out a personnel comment in open session, does FOIA make that a violation?
No. The Delaware AG ruled the Town of Dewey Beach did not violate FOIA when a Town Commissioner briefly mentioned concerns about the Police Chief's effectiveness during an open meeting. The Town Manag…
Can a Delaware agency hit me with a $5,200 FOIA cost estimate for cap-and-trade records and refuse to waive it for public interest?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled DNREC did not violate FOIA by issuing a $5,217.94 itemized cost estimate (139 hours of staff time) for a five-year cap-and-trade records request and refusing to waive fees. …
If a Delaware school board votes to add an item to its agenda at the start of a meeting, can a later open-session ratification cure the FOIA violation?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled that Sussex Tech violated FOIA at its March 11, 2019 meeting by voting at the outset to add a feasibility-study consultant award not on the noticed agenda. But the Board's s…
Can I FOIA the Division of Corporations for proof that my LLC was actually filed in 2014 even if the original document was rejected and purged?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Department of State did not violate FOIA when it could not produce documents about a 2014 LLC formation attempt that was rejected and purged. 6 Del. C. § 18-1105(a)(…
Can a Delaware school board add a brand-new vote to its agenda by motion at the start of the meeting?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that Sussex Tech School District violated FOIA's open meeting requirements when its Board of Education voted at the May 13, 2019 meeting outset to amend the agenda and decide…
Can a Delaware county discuss agricultural-easement purchases in executive session under the 'site acquisition' exemption?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled Sussex County Council did not violate FOIA by holding executive sessions for the Agricultural Lands Preservation Program. Buying preservation easements is buying real proper…
How can a Delaware agency prove it really searched private email accounts and cellphones for FOIA-responsive records?
By submitting a sworn affidavit. The Delaware AG ruled that the Auditor of Accounts adequately searched for records about Odyssey Charter School where its FOIA Coordinator submitted an under-oath affi…
Does Delaware FOIA require an agency to produce the same email twice if it sits in two officials' inboxes?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the City of Lewes did not violate FOIA by producing one copy of an email rather than separate duplicates from each official's inbox. FOIA does not require an agency to c…
Can a Delaware journalist FOIA the raw traffic-stop database used by State Police?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Delaware State Police properly withheld 10 years of raw traffic-stop data. The data is derived from police reports and accident reports, which are exempt as investig…
If I ask my town for the Town Manager's 'schedule' and they send me his employment contract, did they violate FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Town of Dewey Beach did not violate FOIA when it responded to a Town Commissioner's FOIA request for the 'Town Manager's and Police Chief's schedule' by producing ex…
Can a Delaware county refuse to search for time-stamped copies of my own FOIA filings?
Partly. The Delaware AG ruled New Castle County violated FOIA by not specifically addressing whether it had searched for time-stamped copies of the requester's earlier FOIA filings; the County had to …
Can a Delaware citizen FOIA a 1980s mayor's original candidacy filings, and does the agency have to keep records forever?
No. FOIA does not require a Delaware public body to produce records that do not exist. The Delaware Public Archives' retention schedule for candidate filings is 22 months, after which the records are …
Does a typo in a Delaware agency's FOIA response letter prove the agency is hiding records?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Department of Elections did not violate FOIA when it inadvertently dated a response 'March 22, 2019' instead of April 23. DOE explained it reuses prior letters as te…
Can a Delaware agency take an extra 30 business days for legal review on a FOIA request?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled that the Department of Insurance lawfully invoked § 10003(h)(1)'s extension for legal review, telling the requester it would need up to 30 additional business days. Because …
If a Delaware town doesn't have a time-stamp machine, can it be forced under FOIA to give me a time-stamped copy of my own filing?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Town of Bellefonte did not violate FOIA. The Town does not own a time-stamp machine and FOIA does not require it to acquire one or to create records that don't exist…
Can a crime victim use FOIA to get an unredacted copy of the Delaware State Police initial crime report?
The Delaware AG ruled that the Delaware State Police could not show its response to Jeffrey Clouser's FOIA request for an unredacted initial crime report was timely under § 10003(h)'s 15-business-day …
Can a Delaware journalist get a list of who has filed waste-fraud-and-abuse complaints with the State Auditor of Accounts, including the agency named and the reason?
No. The Auditor of Accounts' Hotline Log is an investigatory file 'compiled for civil or criminal law-enforcement purposes' under 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(3), even though AOA is not itself a police agenc…
If a Delaware agency says it does not have the document I asked for, can the AG investigate and force them to look harder?
No. The Delaware AG declined to find a FOIA violation by the Auditor of Accounts because counsel represented that the requested timekeeping policy had been sent and that no other office-closure record…
Can a Delaware agency demand prepayment for a $351 FOIA fee estimate before turning over a single page?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled that the Office of Defense Services lawfully required prepayment of its $351.74 cost estimate before producing records. Section 10003(m)(5) expressly allows public bodies to…
Does Delaware FOIA force the agency to mail me a date-stamped copy of my own request, and how specific does my records request have to be?
No. Delaware FOIA requires public bodies to make records available for inspection and copying, not to mail copies (29 Del. C. § 10003(a)). Requesters must describe records with enough specificity for …
Can a Delaware family member get the public-health investigation file on a disease outbreak at an assisted-living facility?
No. Delaware DPH properly withheld the full investigation file on a GI outbreak at Brandywine Assisted Living at Fenwick Island under FOIA's medical-files exemption (29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(1)) and the …
Can a Delaware town go into executive session about selling city property and immediately vote on the sale in open session?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled that a Rehoboth Beach Special Meeting agenda combining a § 10004(b)(2) executive session on a possible property sale with an open-session vote on the same matter satisfied F…
When a Delaware agency redacts records, does it have to explain why each redaction was made?
Yes. Delaware FOIA at 29 Del. C. § 10003(h)(2) requires public bodies that deny a request 'in whole or in part' to state the reasons for the denial in the response itself. The Delaware Department of A…
Can DNREC withhold permit files under FOIA because two private property owners might sue each other over a boundary dispute?
No. DNREC violated FOIA by withholding bulkhead permit application files under the potential litigation exemption when the only foreseeable lawsuit was between two private neighbors over a boundary di…
If a Delaware public body finally produces records mid-petition, is my FOIA delay complaint dead?
Yes. Once the City of Wilmington produced the narrowed records during the petition process, the journalist's FOIA delay claim was moot. Delaware FOIA petitions exist to determine whether a violation '…
Can the Delaware AG order an Auditor to produce school district audit reports that the requester believes should exist under another statute?
No. Delaware FOIA limits the AG's petition jurisdiction to deciding whether FOIA was violated. The AG cannot order the Auditor of Accounts to produce audit reports the requester believes should exist …
Can a journalist get a roster of Delaware pre-trial detainees with names, charges, ICE holds, and bond amounts under FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Department of Correction properly denied a journalist's FOIA request for a roster of pre-trial detainees because 11 Del. C. § 4322(a) and § 8513(d) statutorily prohi…
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Attorney general opinions in Delaware are written by the Delaware Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.