19-IB68 12/30/2019 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. George X re: FOIA Complaint Concerning New Castle County
Petitioner alleged that New Castle County redacted “flagged” information from 911 records pertaining to his address without citing a statutory exemption from FOIA. The County responded that the “flagged” information maintained in the 911 system contains specific warnings and response strategies that aid law enforcement in responding to a particular address and that the disclosure of flagged information may endanger the safety of neighboring citizens and the responding officers, and is thus exempt pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(17).
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found. FOIA requires a public body to provide a reason for denying a request but does not require a specific citation to the statute. Based on the County’s representations, this Office found that the County properly asserted the 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(17) exemption in these circumstances.
Read More19-IB67 12/18/2019 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. Richard Abbott re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Department of Transportation
Petitioner alleged DelDOT improperly denied his FOIA request on behalf of his client for draft appraisals and communications regarding appraisals by citing exemptions for pending or potential litigation, trade secrets or commercial or financial information, and attorney-client privilege.
DECIDED: This Office determined that DelDOT adequately demonstrated that potential litigation with DelDOT is likely or reasonably foreseeable and the draft appraisals and the communications related to the appraisals have a clear nexus to this potential litigation. Thus, these records were exempt under 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(9) and properly withheld under FOIA.
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