Date Posted: Friday, August 17th, 2018
Petitioner alleged that Sussex County Council violated FOIA by not including sufficient detail in the executive session minutes or its motion to during a public meeting and by allowing a councilmember to take part in the executive session discussing the land acquisition despite recusal. DECIDED: The executive session minutes were sufficiently detailed and therefore complied with FOIA. The motion was sufficiently detailed due to the need for maintaining confidentiality of the site acquisition price. Although no violation was found, Council should have publicly disclosed the price at a later public meeting. No FOIA violation was found with regard to the councilmember’s recusal from executive session since he departed upon recognizing the need for recusal.
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Date Posted: Tuesday, August 14th, 2018
Petitioner alleged two FOIA violations against the Wilmington Housing Authority: that a vote to approve a topic discussed in executive session gave insufficient notice of the topic to the public and that it was not properly noticed in the agenda. DECIDED: First, it was incorrect to label the purpose of the executive session as “personnel” in the agenda. This Office determined that WHA committed a technical violation which required no remediation. Second, no FOIA violation was found for the allegation of insufficient notice with regard to the vote.
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Date Posted: Friday, August 10th, 2018
Petitioner alleged that the Office of the Governor claimed executive privilege too broadly in redacting requested records. DECIDED: The Office of the Governor met the existing legal standard to justify its use of executive privilege. No FOIA violation was found.
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Date Posted: Wednesday, August 8th, 2018
Petitioner alleged they were improperly denied records of the Wilmington Housing Partnership, which were also in the City of Wilmington’s possession. WHP responded that it is not a public body subject to FOIA and that they had not been asked for records. Additionally, they argued that the records were not public records that the City of Wilmington could disclose. DECIDED: WHP is determined to be a public body. This office recommended that they respond to Petitioner’s request in the time required by FOIA.
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Date Posted: Friday, July 27th, 2018
Petitioner alleged he was inappropriately denied requested records regarding a Department of Insurance employee. DECIDED: The requested records were appropriately withheld with the exception of the resume. FOIA requires under the specific facts of this case that DOI provide you with a properly redacted copy of the employee’s resume, and DOI is recommended to send it within ten (10) business days of the decision.
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Date Posted: Thursday, July 19th, 2018
Petitioner contested the Department of Justice’s claim that policies and procedures governing exculpatory evidence are considered attorney work product and thus exempt from FOIA. DECIDED: The exemption for attorney work product was appropriately applied.
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Date Posted: Thursday, July 19th, 2018
Petitioner alleged that the Department of Justice had withheld a document that he believed it must have. DECIDED: There was no FOIA violation because the document requested did not exist.
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Date Posted: Friday, June 29th, 2018
Petitioner alleged that Camden-Wyoming Fire Company failed to respond to his FOIA request. DECIDED: Camden-Wyoming Fire Company is not a public body and thus not subject to FOIA.
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Date Posted: Friday, June 15th, 2018
Petitioner alleged that the Office of the Governor had violated FOIA due to the time taken to respond to a FOIA request for records. DECIDED: Petition is moot as documents have been provided and OGov provided written extensions on permitted bases.
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Date Posted: Thursday, June 7th, 2018
Petitioner alleged the City of Wilmington had withheld documents responsive to their FOIA request. DECIDED: City provided an affidavit explaining why responsive records did not exist. No FOIA violation found.
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