26-IB54 9/16/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Xerxes Wilson re: Delaware Department of State

Xerxes Wilson
The News Journal
[email protected]

Re:      FOIA Petition Regarding the Delaware Department of State

We write in response to your correspondence alleging that the Delaware Department of State violated Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act, 29 Del. C. §§ 10001-10008 (“FOIA”).  We treat your correspondence as a Petition for a determination pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 10005 of whether a violation of FOIA has occurred or is about to occur.  For the reasons set forth below, we determine that the Department did not violate FOIA by denying access to the requested records.

On June 25, 2026, you submitted a FOIA request to the Department seeking, in part, “any lists created by the [D]epartment pursuant to 8 Del. C. § 503(c)” since December 1, 2019.[1]  On July 17, 2026, the Department denied this item in the request pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(6), which exempts records that are exempted from disclosure by statute or common law.  The Department asserted that this list of “large corporate filers” is exempt from disclosure under 8 Del. C. §§ 502(a)(7) and 502(e), as the list would reveal nonpublic tax information.  This Petition followed.