21-IB36 12/22/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Hannah Edelman re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council
Petitioner alleged that the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council improperly denied a request for records related to a particular domestic violence case.
DECIDED: No violation of FOIA was found, as the records are protected from disclosure by statute.
Read More21-IB35 12/17/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Jose Matthews and Adriana Leela Bohm, Ph.D. re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Red Clay Consolidated School District Board of Education
Petitioners alleged several potential issues of noncompliance against the Board of Education of the Red Clay Consolidated School District, including that a Board committee improperly canceled a meeting due to the presence of a quorum of the full Board and that the Board failed to post committee meeting minutes, omitted certain discussions from meeting minutes, and failed to record committee meetings.
DECIDED: It was determined that a violation of FOIA did not occur. However, this Office noted that the two Board members’ silent observation of the committee meeting did not transform it into a Board meeting.
Read More21-IB34 12/10/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Jeffrey C. Smith re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Department of Transportation
Petitioner alleged that in addition to other purportedly violative conduct, DelDOT improperly denied access to records responsive to his request for records related to small cell permits.
DECIDED: It was determined that DelDOT has not violated FOIA by asserting it had no responsive records to provide at the time of its response to the request. The remaining allegations are outside the purview of this Office’s authority under the FOIA statute.
Read More21-IB33 12/8/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Matthew Bittle re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Wilmington
Petitioner alleged that the City of Wilmington did not need additional time beyond fifteen business days to fulfill the request for records.
DECIDED: As the City provided a response, the petition is considered moot.
Read More21-IB32 12/01/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Alan McKersie re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Department of Transportation
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware Department of Transportation improperly denied access to its requested records because the records were of great public concern and DelDOT improperly applied the pending or potential litigation exemption.
DECIDED: DelDOT did not violate FOIA by denying access to the requested records pursuant to the pending or potential litigation exemption.
Read More21-IB31 11/22/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to John Young re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Christina School District
Petitioner alleged that the Christina School District failed to timely respond to its request for records.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found, as the District attempted to respond to the request within the requisite timeframe but made an inadvertent mistake in addressing the email to the petitioner. When notified, the District provided a copy of the misdirected response.
Read More21-IB30 11/17/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Susan Dixon and James Haubrich re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Department of Elections
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware Department of Elections improperly denied access to certain voting records and voting equipment.
DECIDED: The Office determined that the Department properly denied access to the physical equipment as equipment is not a public record subject to FOIA and the requested voting records were exempt from disclosure pursuant to 29 Del. C. 10006(o)(6).
Read More21-IB29 11/04/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Amanda Fries re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Wilmington
Petitioner alleged that the City of Wilmington improperly denied its request for records of the City’s towing contractors.
DECIDED: The City did not violate FOIA by refusing to provide records that pertain to pending litigation.
Read More21-IB28 10/25/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Jeffrey C. Smith re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Department of Transportation
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware Department of Transportation (“DelDOT”) violated FOIA by denying a records request.
DECIDED: This petition was dismissed without consideration of the merits, because the FOIA request at issue did not indicate it was made by or on behalf of the organization submitting the petition. Under FOIA, the party denied access to the requested records is the sole party with standing to challenge a public body’s denial of access to records.
Read More21-IB27 10/25/2021 FOIA Opinion Letter to Randall Chase re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Office of the Auditor of Accounts
Petitioner alleged that the Office of the Auditor of Accounts (“AOA”) violated FOIA by failing to keep accurate FOIA logs and also requesting the validity of AOA’s assertion that it could not locate its FOIA log for 2018.
DECIDED: The AOA, for a period of more than three years, failed to maintain its FOIA logs in accordance with 29 Del. C. § 10003(g)(3), and the balance of the petition is moot.
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