26-IB51 8/24/26 FOIA Opinion Letter to Marie Collins re: Delaware State Police

Marie Collins
[email protected]

Re:      FOIA Petition Regarding the Delaware State Police, Department of Safety and Homeland Security

We write in response to your correspondence alleging that the Delaware State Police, Department of Safety and Homeland Security (“DSP”) 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 DSP did not violate FOIA by denying access to the requested records.

On May 15, 2026, you submitted a FOIA request to the DSP with the questions: “[w]hat was the immigration/citizenship status of the individual on December 23, 2025 and what was his immigration/citizenship history?”[1]  The request described the incident and an individual alleged to be involved in a murder on that date.  On May 26, 2026, the DSP denied this request pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3), citing the investigatory file records exemption for criminal law enforcement.  The DSP also stated that FOIA does not require public bodies to compile data from other public records, answer questions in a written or spoken format, or create records that do not exist.  This Petition followed.