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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Does directing a records requester to a public website satisfy a FOIA request if the requester is incarcerated and has no computer access?
Yes, according to this opinion, at least based on what the agency knew at the time. An incarcerated requester asked for campaign finance records, and the State Election Commissioner directed him to it…
If meeting minutes show a board voted during a closed executive session, is that automatically a FOIA violation?
Not necessarily, according to this opinion. A charter school's approved meeting minutes appeared to show the board voting on a settlement while in a closed executive session, which would violate FOIA'…
Can an out-of-state resident be denied access to Delaware public records under the state's FOIA law?
Yes, according to this opinion. A Colorado resident's broad request for state banking records was denied because he was not a Delaware citizen. The AG concluded that Delaware's FOIA statute, despite a…
Can a state agency charge me for the time it takes a non-lawyer employee to decide which of my requested records are exempt from disclosure?
No, according to this opinion. A former State Treasurer requested roughly 19,000 emails from his old office, and the office's cost estimate included time for a non-lawyer coordinator to decide which e…
Can a city council remove a speaker from public comment for making personal attacks on the mayor?
Yes, according to this opinion. A resident was removed from a city council meeting's public comment period after comparing the mayor's conduct toward a councilmember to treating him 'like a pubescent …
Does a public body violate open-meetings law if the meeting room turns out to be too small for the crowd that shows up?
It can, according to this opinion. The State Board of Education held a heavily attended meeting on a controversial school redistricting plan in a room that turned out to be too small, and the AG found…
Do public meeting minutes have to include everything a resident said during public comment?
No, according to this opinion. A resident complained that a city council's meeting minutes omitted parts of his critical public comment about a social media policy, distorting the public record. The A…
If I sue a county after filing a records request, can it use my own lawsuit as a reason to withhold the records?
Yes, according to this opinion. A former county employee's records request for meeting audio went unanswered past FOIA's 15-day deadline, which the AG found was a violation. But once the requester sue…
How long do I have to file a FOIA open-meetings complaint after the meeting I'm complaining about?
About six months, according to this opinion. The AG declined to investigate several open-meeting allegations because they were raised more than six months after they occurred, and found two other alle…
Does a county administrator have to hold a public meeting before deciding to give employees a bonus or an extra day off?
No, according to this opinion. A Sussex County resident alleged the County Council secretly agreed to give employees an extra day off and a bonus at annual employee luncheons. The AG found the County …
If a state agency misses the FOIA deadline but the records would have been exempt anyway, is there still a remedy?
Yes, a violation was found, but with no remedy ordered. DNREC missed FOIA's 15-business-day deadline to respond to a records request from an environmental group. The AG found that a technical FOIA vio…
Can a state environmental agency refuse to release records about how it negotiated a settlement, citing settlement talks or draft-document privilege?
Partly. The AG rejected DNREC's claim that Delaware law recognizes a special privilege protecting settlement-negotiation records, and found DNREC hadn't proven every document it labeled a 'working dra…
Can a town make you view public meeting minutes only at a town clerk's private home?
No, according to this opinion. A resident asked the Town of Little Creek for Town Council meeting minutes. The AG found the Town wasn't required to post minutes online, but did violate FOIA's reasonab…
Can a police department charge me for the time it takes to review its policy manual for safety-sensitive information before releasing it under a records request?
Yes, according to this opinion, as long as the fee reflects a safety-focused review rather than a legal review of FOIA exemptions, which the statute bars from being charged. The City of New Castle cou…
Can I file a FOIA complaint against a city before its deadline to respond to my records request has even passed?
No, according to this opinion. A property owner petitioned before the City of Rehoboth Beach's 15-business-day response window had run, and the AG found that piece premature. On the merits of what he …
Does a letter to a city count as a public records request even if it doesn't mention FOIA by name?
Yes, according to this opinion. A resident's letter asking about property assessment figures met FOIA's requirements even though it didn't invoke FOIA by name, so the City of Rehoboth Beach committed …
Can a governor's office withhold emails from a public records request just because a state legislator or their staff was copied on them?
Not entirely, according to this opinion. The Governor's Office withheld records under two FOIA exemptions: one for materials protected by privilege, which the AG upheld, and one for emails involving G…
Does a public board violate open-meetings law if its president has a quiet side conversation with counsel or staff during a meeting?
No, according to this opinion. A legislator complained that the State Board of Education's president had a private sidebar with the board's attorney and asked a staff member to confirm advice during a…
Can a state tax agency refuse a public records request for a company's corporate tax exemption application?
Yes, according to this opinion. A requester sought three companies' applications for exemption from Delaware corporate income tax. The Division of Revenue refused, citing the tax secrecy statute, and …
Can I file a new FOIA petition asking the Attorney General to reconsider a decision already issued in an earlier case?
Mostly no, according to this opinion. The ACLU of Delaware sent a follow-up letter about State Police's production of cell-site simulator records under a prior AG determination. The AG found that lett…
Can a police department keep its internal affairs investigation summaries confidential even if its own written policy promises to release them?
Yes, according to this opinion. A journalist asked the Town of Bethany Beach for annual statistical summaries of police internal affairs investigations, which the police department's own written polic…
Can a county council discuss how a new pay plan affects specific employees in a closed executive session?
Yes, according to this opinion. A resident challenged Sussex County's handling of a new employee pay plan, questioning why its impact on specific employees was discussed in executive session at a May …
Can Delaware State Police refuse to release its confidentiality agreement with the FBI about cell-site simulator (Stingray) technology?
No, according to this opinion. A journalist asked Delaware State Police for records about its use of cell-site simulators (devices that mimic cell towers to track phones), including any nondisclosure …
Can a reporter get the medical examiner's conclusion about a person's manner of death through a Delaware public records request?
No, according to this opinion. A reporter asked Delaware's Division of Forensic Science (DDFS) for the autopsy findings, and later just the medical examiner's conclusion on manner of death, in the cas…
Can a state agency charge me for a duplicate email search after it already searched its own records and found nothing?
Technically no violation, but poor practice, according to this opinion. The Department of Education searched its own email records for a FOIA request, found nothing, but still sent a $300 estimate for…
Does a school board have to take a public vote before denying a parent's request, even if it never formally calls for a motion?
Yes, according to this opinion. A parent's attorney asked the Brandywine School Board to expunge a student's discipline record. The Board discussed the request in executive session under a vague "Lega…
Can a school board vote in executive session to stop a board member from recording the meeting?
Partly yes, partly no, according to this opinion. The Christina School Board properly discussed its superintendent's competency and abilities in executive session under FOIA's personnel-matters except…
Can a landlord get paid to remove an abandoned manufactured home if the tenant abandoned it before the landlord ever filed a change-in-use plan?
No, according to this opinion. The Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority (DEMHRA) asked whether it must pay a landlord to remove a manufactured home a tenant abandoned before the landlord ha…
Is a shared data-processing agency owned by two school districts subject to Delaware's public records law?
Yes, according to this opinion. The New Castle Data Service Center (DSC), a shared administrative agency owned and operated by the Colonial and Red Clay Consolidated School Districts to handle finance…
Can a Delaware agency refuse to search for emails older than 12 months just because its IT department only retains a year's worth?
No, under the law as it stood in 2015. The AG found that the Delaware Department of Agriculture violated FOIA when it treated its IT department's 12-month email retention as an excuse to stop searchin…
Can Delaware require political parties to put a 'paid for by' disclaimer on campaign ads without violating the First Amendment?
Yes, according to this opinion. Delaware's State Election Commissioner asked whether she could keep enforcing the state's disclaimer law requiring political parties to label campaign advertisements "P…
Can a town buy property and expand its town hall without a full public vote, as long as email discussions among a few officials don't involve a quorum?
Largely yes, according to this opinion. Property owners raised eight separate FOIA allegations against the Town of Dewey Beach over its purchase of two properties for a town hall expansion. The AG fou…
Does a nonprofit that gets most of its funding from the state count as a public body under Delaware's open meetings law?
No, according to this opinion. The Cape Henlopen Senior Center, a private nonprofit that gets more than two-thirds of its budget from state and county grants and had the Rehoboth Beach mayor and polic…
Can a manufactured home owner get relocation assistance from Delaware's Trust Fund to move within the same community?
Yes, according to this opinion. The Delaware Manufactured Housing Relocation Authority asked whether its Trust Fund could cover moving costs for homeowners who relocate within the same manufactured ho…
Does a government records office have to provide bulk copies of public records in the specific electronic format I request?
No, according to this opinion. A requester (Zillow) asked the Kent County Recorder of Deeds for about a year and a half of recorded document images on external media. The Recorder instead offered free…
Can a government agency charge me thousands of dollars in fees to discourage me from pursuing a public records request?
Not if the estimate is inflated, according to this opinion. A blogger challenged the Department of Education's $6,568.86 fee estimate for a records request about testing-vendor contracts. The AG found…
Can a school board discuss and vote on renewing a superintendent's contract in a closed executive session?
No, according to this opinion. The Appoquinimink School Board violated Delaware's open meetings law by discussing the superintendent's contract renewal in executive session (personnel-matter sessions …
Do National Guard firefighters who are classified as state employees have the right to collectively bargain under Delaware law, or only federal law?
Both, according to this opinion. The AG concluded that Delaware National Guard firefighters classified as state employees could use Delaware's Police Officers' and Firefighters' Employment Relations A…
Can I get records about individual special-education students through a Delaware public records request?
Not when disclosure could still identify individual students, according to this opinion. The AG found that Individual Educational Plans and related documents for a small group of special-education stu…
Can a state agency withhold how much money telecom companies pay into a public fund by calling that information a trade secret?
No, not here. The AG found that the amounts two telecom carriers, AT&T and Sprint, paid into Delaware's Broadband Fund were "financial" and "commercial" information but not protected trade secrets or …
Does a public body violate Delaware's open meetings law if the hearing room turns out to be too small for everyone who shows up?
Not necessarily, according to the AG. Delaware's FOIA requires a public body to pick a reasonably sized venue when it knows a meeting will draw a crowd, but it does not require the body to guarantee s…
Can a citizen use Delaware's FOIA to get records that a private company holds under contract with a state agency?
Not automatically. According to this opinion, a private contractor's own business records only count as FOIA "public records" if the contractor prepared them to carry out the public agency's own respo…
Can town council members discuss an issue informally over several public meetings without violating the open meetings law?
No violation, according to the AG. Because the Frankford Town Council's discussion of the charter amendment happened across several public meetings, and there was no evidence of any private quorum mee…
Can a Delaware city charge more than the standard FOIA copying fee based on its own internal rules?
No. The AG found that the City of Wilmington could not charge more than FOIA's standard photocopying fee, 10 cents per page after the first 20 free pages, because its higher internal fee schedule had …
What happens if a Delaware public body doesn't post its meeting notices on the state's official calendar?
The board violated Delaware's open-meetings law by not electronically posting notices and minutes on the state's official Public Meeting Calendar, but the AG found the violation didn't harm anyone and…
Who legally controls how Delaware invests its state cash, the elected State Treasurer or the Cash Management Policy Board?
The Cash Management Policy Board, not the State Treasurer. The AG concluded that Delaware's constitution gives the Treasurer no inherent investment power, only the receipt, care, and disbursement of f…
Can a nonprofit like the ACLU get an inmate's records under FOIA when the inmate himself would be barred from requesting them?
Yes, in this case. The AG found that DOC had to release Alco-Sensor calibration and maintenance records to the ACLU of Delaware because the group was pursuing its own public-interest investigation, no…
Can Delaware's prison system keep the identity of its lethal injection drug supplier secret under public records law?
No. The AG reaffirmed its prior ruling that DOC could not use a trade-secret exemption, a state confidentiality statute, its execution protocol, or a state-secret privilege to withhold records about i…
Can the public get copies of 911 call recordings under Delaware's open records law?
Yes, in limited circumstances. The AG found that New Castle County could withhold 911 recordings that discussed a possible medical emergency because they implicated the caller's constitutional and com…
Is an informal advisory group the governor convenes by invitation subject to Delaware's open meetings law?
Yes. The AG concluded that a 24-member charter school reform group the Governor convened by invitation, without any formal charter or bylaws, still counted as a "public body" under FOIA because it was…
Is a state agency exempt from Delaware's open meetings law if it's headed by just one person?
Yes. The AG concluded that DNREC, headed by a single Secretary rather than a multi-member board, qualified as a "body of one" exempt from FOIA's open-meeting requirements, so its choice of hearing ven…
Can a city redact police officers' names from records about the mayor's security detail?
Yes, in this case. The AG found Wilmington was justified in redacting the names of officers assigned to the mayor's security detail, and of unsuccessful applicants, from personnel-type records under F…
Can a county council use generic boilerplate language on every meeting agenda to reserve the right to go into executive session on any topic?
No FOIA violation was found here, but the AG warned that using generic boilerplate language listing every possible executive-session exemption on every agenda, regardless of whether the Council actual…
What does Delaware AG Opinion 2013-04-17-in-re-b-j-alan-company-an-ohio (In Re: B.J. Alan Company, an Ohio corporation.) say?
STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DIVISION OF CONSUMER PROTECTION In Re: B.J. Alan Company, an Ohio corporation. CEASE AND DESIST ORDER PURSUANT TO AN AGREEMENT This Cease and Desist Agreement O…
What does Delaware AG Opinion 2013-04-17-cesise-and-desist-order-in-re- (Cesise and Desist Order – In Re: William Costigan) say?
STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DIVISION OF CONSUMER PROTECTION In Re: William Costigan CEASE AND DESIST ORDER PURSUANT TO AN AGREEMENT This Cease and Desist Agreement Order Pursuant to an Agr…
Can a school board hire a new superintendent behind closed doors without telling the public it planned to vote?
No. The AG found that the Woodbridge School Board violated Delaware's open-meetings law by not disclosing it would vote on the superintendent's resignation and replacement, and by privately discussing…
Can a school board's vote to extend a superintendent's contract be thrown out for violating the open meetings law?
Yes. The AG found that the Capital School District Board's failure to tell attendees it planned to reconvene in a second closed session and then vote violated Delaware's open-meetings law, and invalid…
What does Delaware AG Opinion 2012-11-28-deputy-attorney-general (Deputy Attorney General) say?
Deputy Attorneys General positions become available on a regular basis in New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties. Members of the Delaware Bar who are interested in public service are encouraged to submi…
What does Delaware AG Opinion 2012-11-27-administrative-specialist-i (ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST I) say?
Opening Date: November 27, 2012 Closing Date: November 30, 2012 ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST I, (Pay Grade 7) Criminal Division, Superior Court Unit, (Felony Trial) Kent County Job Responsibilities and…
After a school board's raise vote gets invalidated for a notice problem, does redoing that vote have to preview every detail critics want, like an advance copy of a supporting presentation?
No, under the law as it stood in 2012. After the AG invalidated the Capital School District Board's first vote on a 5% administrator raise for lacking proper notice, the AG upheld the Board's redone F…
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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.