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.
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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.…
Can a Delaware city charge for staff time to identify FOIA-responsive records, including supervisor email searches?
Yes. Delaware FOIA permits administrative fees for staff time beyond the first hour, and the AG upheld Wilmington's $145 estimate for three hours of work on Rodney Reservoir requests. A sworn…
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…
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. The opinion holds that attendance and leave records with generic descriptors like 'sick' or 'vacation' are not exempt; the AG recommended release after appropriate…
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…
Can a Delaware school board list an acting high school principal appointment only as 'personnel' on its meeting agenda?
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…
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)…
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…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
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'?
The district violated FOIA by failing to support its denial with sworn evidence of its efforts to find responsive records. Counsel's unsworn claim that no single record held all the requested…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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 FOIA does not obligate them to mail…
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,…
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…
Can a law firm representing audit targets in pending litigation use FOIA to obtain Delaware unclaimed property audit-assignment records?
In these circumstances, the Department of Finance properly denied a Reed Smith lawyer's request for audit-assignment records. The AG found that the request's timing and subject connected it to…
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…
Does a Delaware city have to post a separate online notice for a special-use permit hearing, or is the regular meeting agenda enough?
FOIA did not require a separate online hearing notice here. Delaware City posted its Mayor and Council meeting notice online, and the agenda listed the Marina Village special-use permit hearing. The…
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…
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…
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…
Can a requester obtain the State’s unredacted Medicfill contract through FOIA while litigation over its replacement is pending?
The State Employee Benefits Committee released the Medicfill contract in redacted form. Steven LePage said the redactions blocked him from understanding his benefits. The AG ruled the records were…
Are the contracts of the Trustees of the New Castle Common public records under Delaware FOIA?
The Trustees are a public body under an earlier AG opinion. They violated FOIA by failing to support their claim that two requested contracts were exempt: counsel's unsworn assertions gave the AG no…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
What can I do if a Delaware public body just ignores my FOIA request?
The AG found that Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corporation violated FOIA by failing to respond to two audit-records requests within 15 business days. It required FDRPC to give the…
Did DNREC violate Delaware FOIA by withholding an employee settlement or by failing to discuss a reporter's request before responding?
After DNREC produced the settlement, the AG found the withholding claim moot. The AG separately found no violation of the coordinator's duty to foster cooperation under the circumstances of this request.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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?
No. The Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security missed the 15-business-day deadline and later promised to identify responsive records and provide a cost estimate. The AG found that this…
Can a Delaware journalist get a count of inmate deaths broken down by cause and facility under FOIA?
The AG did not decide whether the journalist could obtain the aggregate counts. It found a FOIA violation because DOC's affidavit described the individual death log it produced but did not state…
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…
Can a Delaware governor's office invoke the pending-litigation FOIA exemption when the office itself is not a party to the lawsuit?
The AG upheld the Governor's Office's denial of this Edgemoor port records request because the office was sufficiently related to the pending Environmental Appeals Board appeal and the request…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Can DelDOT use 'potential litigation' to deny every record about a development dispute, including the entire DelDOT manual?
The AG found DelDOT had not justified applying the potential-litigation exemption to an entire broad request about a Sussex County subdivision, street dedications, and DelDOT's Development…
What happens if a Delaware agency misses the 15-day FOIA deadline but eventually responds with an affidavit?
The AG found the petition moot after the Auditor of Accounts supplied an affidavit response to the records request. It acknowledged that AOA missed FOIA's 15-business-day response deadline and…
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…
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…
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…
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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.