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.
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. Rehoboth Beach amended the August 21, 2020 agenda to add the nom…
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. Rehoboth Beach violated FOIA by responding to two of Vivari's requests months late and by treating a February 2020 file review as a substitut…
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. The papers themselves are not university documents about public fu…
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 counsel represented no such compiled record existed and F…
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 response email to Julie Nay bounced because the County mistyped her address. Once the County re-sent the records, the AG found no viola…
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 the requested 2019 firearms-transaction annual report did not exist. The AG accepted counsel's representation …
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 does not require a public body to provide a record that does not exist…
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 agreed that the Odyssey Charter School Nominating Committee, as a public-body subcommittee of the Board, could notice an executive session under FOIA for an authorized purpose. Th…
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. The locked-building location did not viola…
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 concluded 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 …
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.