16-IB09 4/7/2016 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. Michael Dworiak re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of New Castle

Petitioner alleged that the City of New Castle violated FOIA by assessing fees for legal review of the police procedures manual. Held: The charge did not violate FOIA because a review to determine whether disclosure of such information would present a safety risk to the police department or general public is considered to be an administrative rather than legal review. However, the City must ensure that the charge is based on the hourly rate of the lowest-paid individual capable of performing the work, provide an accounting to the Petitioner of the time spent on review, and refund any unspent balance of the prepaid charge.

Read More

---