Date Posted: Wednesday, August 19th, 2015
The petitioners made 8 allegations of Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) violations by the Town of Dewey Beach (“the Town”) including holding discussion of a potential property purchase by email, holding a special meeting inconsistent with regular meeting day and time, posting insufficient or inaccurate agendas for two meetings, failing to meet the 15 business day deadline to provide requested records, and by failing to keep minutes of executive sessions. Held: The emails regarding property purchase did not constitute a “serial meeting” because there was not a quorum of commissioners participating. Meeting notices, agendas, and use of executive sessions complied with FOIA. A properly noticed meeting does not violate FOIA by being held at a different day and time than usual. The Town missed the 15 day deadline to provide requested records and failed to create minutes of the meeting of January 2, 2015 in a timely manner.
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Date Posted: Friday, July 31st, 2015
The petitioner requested a determination of whether the Cape Henlopen Senior Center (“CHSC”) is a “public body” subject to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Held: CHSC is not a public body because it is not a “regulatory, administrative, advisory, executive, appointive or legislative body of the State, or of any political subdivision of the State” and it was not established by governmental act or entity as described in FOIA. The mere fact that CHSC receives a large portion of its funding from the State and Sussex County is not sufficient to subject it to FOIA because it does fall within the first statutory requirement.
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Date Posted: Monday, June 29th, 2015
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE Attorney General Opinion No. 15-IB04 June 29, 2015 VIA EMAIL AND U.S. MAIL Mitch Crane, Esquire Chairman Delaware Manufactured Housing Relocation Authority 110 Main Street, Suite G Camden, DE 19934 Dear Mr. Crane: In your letter of April 28, 2015 (the “Request”), on behalf of […]
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Date Posted: Wednesday, June 17th, 2015
The petitioner alleged that the Kent County Recorder of Deeds violated FOIA by not providing requested documents in a format that could be stored on external media. Held: Because FOIA only requires a public body to provide “reasonable access” to the public records, and two alternatives for reasonable access were offered to the Petitioner (inspection and copying during business hours or a paid subscription service), there was no FOIA violation.
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Date Posted: Friday, June 12th, 2015
The petitioner requested a determination of whether the Department of Education (“the Department”) had violated the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) by withholding requested documents until he paid $6,568.86 for their procurement, an amount he believed to be overestimated in order to discourage the request. Held: A FOIA violation occurred because the fees were not reasonable and were reduced by the Department of Justice to a maximum of $1,725.04, but there was no basis to conclude that the original estimate was intended to discourage the petitioner’s request. It was not a FOIA violation for the Department to require payment of some of all of the fees in advance.
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Date Posted: Friday, June 12th, 2015
The petitioner alleged the Appoquinimink School Board (“the Board”) committed multiple violations of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”); specifically, they were alleged to have voted on a superintendent contract (“the Contract”) while in executive session, not provided sufficient notice that the contract would be discussed in agendas for two dates, and corrected an agenda to reflect the discussion after the meeting had been held. Held: The Board violated FOIA’s open meetings requirements when it (i) discussed the Contract in executive session at the June 2014 Board meeting for purposes not authorized by FOIA; (ii) failed to specifically list the consideration of the Contract in the June 2014 Meeting agendas; and (iii) failed to specifically list the discussion of the Contract in the December 2014 Meeting agenda.
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Date Posted: Monday, November 3rd, 2014
The Office of Management and Budget sought advice on whether Delaware National Guard (DNG) Fire Fighters are covered only by federal rather than state collective bargaining law and if covered by state law, whether their rights were limited by 20 Del. C. § 185, which requires DNG employees to be governed by the rules and regulations, including pay scale, applicable to the federal military technician program. Held: DNG Fire Fighters who have been certified as a collective bargaining unit by the State of Delaware Public Employment Relations Board may legitimately avail themselves of the State of Delaware’s collective bargaining laws to determine their collective bargaining rights, but those rights are controlled and limited by 20 Del. C. § 185.
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Date Posted: Wednesday, August 27th, 2014
The Complainant alleged the Delaware Department of Education (“DDOE”) provided an incomplete response to his request for documents. DDOE admitted it had withheld certain documents pursuant to applicable privacy statutes and regulations. Held: applicable State and federal statutes and regulations prohibit the release of records that could be identified to an individual student. Applying the standards set by the U.S. Department of Education, the requested documents are not “public records,” so DDOE cannot produce them.
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Date Posted: Friday, July 18th, 2014
The Complainant alleged the Department of Technology and Information (“DTI”) improperly withheld information regarding assessments for the Delaware Broadband Fund (the “Fund”). DTI withheld the assessments of three carriers at their request because the carriers alleged the assessments constituted “trade secrets” or “commercial financial information” that would constitute a threat to their respective competitive positions. Held: information withheld should have been produced. There was no apparent threat of competitive harm, given the voluntary release of assessment information to the Complainant by dozens of competitors.
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Date Posted: Monday, June 16th, 2014
The Complainant alleged the Board of Adjustment of the City of Newark (“Board”) held an “open meeting” in violation of the Freedom of information Act (“FOIA”) because it failed to provide a facility for a hearing that was large enough to accommodate all who wished to attend. The meeting had been moved to the auditorium at Newark High School. Held: the size of the venue chosen was “reasonable.” Public comment was not allowed or required in any event.
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