26-IB36 6/25/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Chase Barnett re: Delaware State Police, Department of Safety and Homeland Security
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware State Police, Department of Safety and Homeland Security (“DSP”) improperly denied a request for various records related to the surrender of an electronic device during an investigation.
DECIDED: As the records are exempt pursuant to the investigatory files exemption, the DSP did not violate FOIA by denying access to the requested records.
Read More26-IB35 6/23/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Brianna Hill re: Delaware Department of Correction
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware Department of Correction (“DOC”) violated FOIA with regard to three requests. The petition alleges that: (1) the DOC’s initial response was not timely; (2) the requests were not timely processed with the technology staff; (3) the DOC delayed producing records after they were received from the technology staff; (4) the DOC did not provide a full response to three requests; and (5) the DOC improperly indicated that fees will be assessed for legal review.
DECIDED: The DOC violated FOIA by failing to comply with the statute’s requirements for asserting the need for additional time related to the email processing and by failing to fully address the three requests. The DOC also violated FOIA by indicating it will charge for legal review fees, which are not permissible under Section 10003(m).
Read More26-IB34 6/17/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Shannon Marvel McNaught re: Town of Dagsboro
Petitioner alleged that the Town of Dagsboro violated FOIA by denying a request for certain Town police emails.
DECIDED: The Town did not meet its burden to demonstrate this denial of access was appropriate under FOIA.
Read More26-IB33 6/16/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Richard Sargent re: City of Rehoboth Beach
Petitioner alleged that the City of Rehoboth Beach violated FOIA by denying access to an individual’s identity who raised concerns with a safety issue that resulted in an improvement project.
DECIDED: The City violated FOIA in withholding the identity of this individual.
Read More26-IB32 6/16/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Julie Morris re: City of Milford
Petitioner alleged that the City of Milford improperly withheld records responsive to the second item in the multi-part request, which sought an existing list or similar record showing outside agencies currently granted access to the Flock Safety camera system or data-sharing network. In addition, the petition asserts two claims about the cost estimate, questioning the propriety of the estimate’s inclusion of the charge for review of privileged information and whether the estimate adequately explained that the indicated staff member was the lowest paid employee capable of retrieving the records.
DECIDED: The City violated FOIA by failing to demonstrate that it appropriately withheld this requested list under FOIA. The claims regarding the cost estimate are moot.
Read More26-IB31 6/15/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Julie Morris re: City of Milford
Petitioner alleged that the City of Milford officials failed to recognize the petitioner’s virtual “raised hand” during the public comment period of the City’s May 12, 2026 Council meeting.
DECIDED: The City violated FOIA by failing to allow the petitioner to give public comment at this meeting.
Read More26-IB30 6/10/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Stephanie McGinnis re: City of Rehoboth Beach
Petitioner alleged that the City of Rehoboth Beach improperly denied a multi-part request for records related to a law enforcement incident. The petition also asserted that the City should have made statements about the existence and preservation of certain records in the response.
DECIDED: The City did not violate FOIA by denying access to the investigatory records pursuant to the investigatory files exemption. The request for policies was not sufficiently described, nor is the City required to create a legal analysis or answer a question in response to a FOIA request. In addition, the claim regarding the existence of records is not a violation of FOIA, and a request for records preservation is outside the scope of FOIA.
Read More26-IB29 6/8/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Torie Seagraves re: City of Lewes
Petitioner alleged that the City of Lewes violated FOIA by briefly removing a meeting recording that was previously posted online.
DECIDED: As the City is not obliged to post or maintain this video recording on its website, the City did not violate FOIA by removing the video.
Read More26-IB28 6/2/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Charlotte Torbert re: Town of Greenwood
Petitioner alleged that the Town violated FOIA by: (1) holding a January 2026 public hearing in a venue that was not “open” in accordance with FOIA; (2) improperly discussing and voting on employee compensation and changes to the employee handbook in executive session at the March 11, 2026 meeting; (3) failing to have audio accompanying the live stream when the March meeting resumed after the executive session; (4) failing to accept comments through the live stream at the meeting; and (5) posting the April 15, 2026 meeting agenda five days in advance of the meeting, rather than the required seven days.
DECIDED: The Town violated FOIA by failing to meet its burden to demonstrate the topics of the nonpayment of employee premium pay and changes to the employee handbook were appropriately discussed in executive session. The remaining claims are not violations of FOIA.
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