Date Posted: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the Department of Insurance improperly cited exemptions in response to its request for certain records.
DECIDED: The Department did not violate FOIA in denying the items in the request on the basis of the pending or potential litigation exemption, the statutory exemption for examination work papers, and the investigatory files exemption.
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Date Posted: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the City of Wilmington failed to respond to a request for records.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation occurred, as the City provided evidence of its timely response to the request.
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Date Posted: Monday, April 5th, 2021
Petitioner alleged that DOC improperly denied his request for DOC policies and other records.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation occurred, as 29 Del. C. 10002(l)(13) exempts any records in DOC’s possession which are sought by an inmate in DOC’s custody.
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Date Posted: Wednesday, March 24th, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware State Police (“DSP”) improperly denied her request for a criminal complaint.
DECIDED: DSP did not violate FOIA, as the investigatory files exemption applies to the criminal complaint.
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Date Posted: Friday, March 12th, 2021
Petitioner alleged that that the City of Wilmington improperly denied his request for investigatory records related to a fire in Wilmington. The cause of the fire was not determined, and the investigation was marked undetermined/closed. The investigator reserved the ability to modify the investigative conclusion if new evidence was discovered.
DECIDED: The City did not violate FOIA by denying access to these records, as the City verified the records pertain to investigatory files for criminal law enforcement and this exemption applies even after the investigation is closed.
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Date Posted: Friday, March 5th, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the Department of State violated FOIA by failing to provide certain records responsive to his request for conference materials.
DECIDED: As the Department verified that the specific records requested do not exist, no FOIA violation was found.
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Date Posted: Monday, March 1st, 2021
Petitioner alleged that Delaware City violated FOIA by improperly responding to FOIA requests for its community center financial records, its FOIA log, and request for a lease agreement, including the following: 1) ) whether the responses from the City to Petitioner’s Community Center requests were timely and responsive in terms of its level of detail; 2) whether the City violated FOIA by failing to maintain its FOIA log and by erroneously marking the Community Center requests on the log as closed; 3) whether the City’s response to Petitioner’s request for an agreement was untimely, incomplete, and improperly designated as complete on the FOIA log; 4) whether the City’s request to fill out a certain form violated FOIA; and 5) whether certain aspects of the City’s FOIA website were improper, including the FOIA Coordinator information, the availability of multiple request forms, and the .pdf form not being a “fillable” document.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found, but the City was reminded to properly maintain its FOIA log, to accept FOIA requests as provided by the FOIA statute, and to timely update its FOIA Coordinator information.
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Date Posted: Thursday, February 25th, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the Sussex Technical School District Board of Education did not give adequate notice on its agenda of its intent to appoint a superintendent.
DECIDED: The Board gave sufficient notice for discussing a job candidate’s qualifications in executive session by noting that “Personnel” would be discussed, but violated FOIA by not giving adequate notice of its intent to appoint a superintendent in open session. This Office recommended that the Board hold a new vote on the matter in a future meeting after providing more specific notice to the public.
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Date Posted: Thursday, January 21st, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the Chair of the Town Assembly of the Village of Arden improperly denied him records and excluded him from discussions with the attorney related to the Village’s litigation. He argued that he was entitled to the records as a member of the Town Assembly.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found. The petitioner’s rights in regard to his membership in the Town Assembly is outside the scope of this Office’s authority to determine. The pending or potential litigation exemption is applicable to his request because the requested records pertain to the Village’s pending litigation.
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Date Posted: Thursday, January 14th, 2021
Petitioner alleged that the Department of Correction failed to timely respond to his request and improperly denied his request for surveillance video and disciplinary hearing records.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found. The allegation of untimeliness was moot, and the requested records were determined to be exempt under sections 10002(l)(6) & (17) of FOIA.
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