26-IB63 10/19/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Julia Merola re: Caesar Rodney School District
Petitioner alleged that the Caesar Rodney School District included impermissible fees for legal review in its cost estimate.
DECIDED: The District violated FOIA by including fees for legal review in its cost estimate for this request.
Read More26-IB62 10/14/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Bernadette Ruf re: Trustees of the New Castle Common
Petitioner alleged that the Trustees of the New Castle Common violated FOIA by: (1) failing to take a vote for a certain paving project at the March 18, 2026 budget workshop meeting or failing to keep accurate minutes; (2) not posting an agenda for this meeting; (3) not posting the minutes for this meeting until after the project was completed; and (4) either executing a project that was approved in a public meeting, or approving the project outside of a public meeting in violation of FOIA.
DECIDED: The the Trustees violated FOIA by failing to post an agenda for the March 18, 2026 meeting and by failing to maintain accurate minutes regarding this project. The remaining allegations do not constitute violations of FOIA.
Read More26-IB61 10/14/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Maddy Lauria re: Environmental Appeals Board
Petitioner alleged that the Environmental Appeals Board improperly denied a request for formal responses and motions related to pending appeals.
DECIDED: The Board violated FOIA by failing to demonstrate that it appropriately withheld the requested records under FOIA’s litigation exemption.
Read More26-IB60 10/12/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Samuel Larkin re: New Castle County
Petitioner alleged that New Castle County violated FOIA by denying a request for certain 911 call records.
DECIDED: Because the 911 call records are exempt from disclosure by statute, no violation of FOIA was found.
Read More26-IB59 10/12/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Martha Chase re: City of Rehoboth Beach
Petitioner alleged that the City of Rehoboth Beach improperly responded to a request for records related to a certain property by failing to produce municipal records to establish the City’s claim related to this property.
DECIDED: The City did not violate FOIA, as the request for the City’s records supporting a legal position is not sufficiently articulated under FOIA and the City demonstrated an adequate search for the remaining requested records.
Read More26-IB58 10/05/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Ryan Connell re: Delaware State Police
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware State Police, Department of Safety and Homeland Security (“DSP”) improperly denied a request for records supporting the placement of a Flock Safety license plate reader camera in a particular neighborhood.
DECIDED: As the DSP adequately demonstrated these records were exempt investigatory file records, no violation of FOIA was found.
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