The Delaware Freedom of Information Act provides access to meetings of public bodies and records generated by public agencies. Its purpose is to ensure governmental accountability, inform the electorate, and prevent public entities, as instruments of government, from deciding for themselves what is good for the public to know. The Delaware Freedom of Information Act is commonly referred to as the “FOIA” or the “Delaware FOIA.”
The University of Delaware is subject to certain of the law’s requirements. The Delaware FOIA is not the same as the federal Freedom of Information Act, which applies only to agencies and departments of the federal government. The University of Delaware is not subject to any of the requirements in the federal Freedom of Information Act.
In general terms, the Delaware FOIA bestows two sets of rights on persons who invoke its provisions. First, it requires meetings of public bodies to be open to members of the public, subject to exceptions specified in the FOIA. Second, it allows members of the public to examine and copy “public records” generated by “public bodies,” as each of the terms in quotation marks is defined in the FOIA.
