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.
No Delaware opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
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…
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 criminal defendant who says he was exonerated FOIA the dash and body camera footage from his own arrest cases after they close?
No. The AG held that the investigatory-files exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3) is not limited to pending investigations and continues to apply after a case is closed, so DSP did not violate FOIA b…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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 reco…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 …
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 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 …
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 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…
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 …
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)…
Browse Delaware opinions by topic
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.