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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If a Delaware town receives a FOIA request and never responds, what happens when the AG reviews a petition?
The town loses. The public body bears the burden to show it complied with FOIA. The Town of Blades only confirmed it received John Reiss's October 28, 2025 request for councilmember emails about a pro…
Can a Delaware agency refuse a FOIA request when the requester has announced an intent to sue the agency over the same records?
Yes, on these facts. The AG found DelDOT did not violate FOIA in denying a request for 1994 property acquisition records under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9), which exempts records pertaining to pending or …
If a Delaware city denies a journalist's FOIA request for emails about a police chief, does it have to back up the denial with sworn evidence?
Yes. The AG found the City of Dover violated FOIA by denying Maggie Reynolds's request for keyword-searched emails between the Mayor and Police Chief without supporting its denial with sworn statement…
Does Delaware's FOIA give out-of-state residents the right to request public records from Delaware towns?
No. The AG read 'citizen' in 29 Del. C. § 10003(a), as a prior AG opinion (16-IB20) did, to mean a citizen of Delaware. Because the record showed Karen Miller is not a Delaware citizen, the Town of Gr…
If a Delaware town misses the FOIA deadline but eventually responds, can a citizen still win on incomplete responses, an unredacted FOIA log, or untrained staff?
Partly. The AG split four claims: (1) the late-response claim was moot because the Town eventually responded; (2) two requests the petitioner flagged as 'incomplete' (legal bills and bank account regi…
Can someone who is not a Delaware citizen use Delaware FOIA to get state contract records?
No. Delaware FOIA gives access to public records to citizens of Delaware. The requester here did not dispute that he is not a Delaware citizen, so the AG concluded the Office of Management and Budget …
Can a state agency withhold email notifications it sent to General Assembly members, using the FOIA exemption for legislator emails?
Yes. 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(16) exempts emails received or sent by members of the Delaware General Assembly or their staff. Citing Flowers v. Office of the Governor, the AG concluded the exemption is u…
Can a Delaware citizen use FOIA to get police call logs and CAD records for a specific address, with personal info redacted?
No. The AG concluded the Delaware State Police did not violate FOIA by denying a request for calls-for-service logs and call summaries tied to a property. Such calls, on their face, would initiate pol…
If a Delaware town is considering banning chickens, can a resident FOIA the underlying complaints, and must the town post agendas online and keep detailed minutes?
The complaints are exempt and the town did not otherwise violate FOIA. Chicken complaints filed with the Town police and the Building and Code Official are part of investigatory files under 29 Del. C.…
Can a county use the pending-litigation FOIA exemption against a requester who is not a party to the lawsuit but asks about the same subject?
Yes. The AG concluded Sussex County did not violate FOIA. Records pertaining to pending or potential litigation are excluded from the definition of public record under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9), and th…
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. The AG determined that DSP did not violate FOIA when it denied the request. Section 10002(o)(3) treats police reports as investigatory files, which are categorically excluded from FOIA, and the op…
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 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…
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 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…
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…
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 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 and must be disclosed (with specific medical det…
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 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 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…
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 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…
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…
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 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 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 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 Delaware FOIA, the party denied access is the sole party with standing to challenge a denial. Smith filed the original FOIA individually, with no mention of Coastal Stewards Delaware (CSD); …
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 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 …
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 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…
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 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…
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 …
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…
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. …
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)(…
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 I use Delaware FOIA to get a city employee's personnel file, complaints, and disciplinary records?
No. The Delaware AG determined the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA by withholding a City employee's personnel file, including complaints and disciplinary records, under the personnel-file exem…
If a Delaware city says it has no records matching my request, can the AG force it to search again?
No. The Delaware AG determined the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA where the City represented that it had no records responsive to the second and third items of Kostyshyn's request and made no…
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 …
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…
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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.