Dover – Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that his office has launched a “Freedom of Information Act Roadshow” to give presentations on Delaware’s open government laws.
The Roadshow presentations will be conducted by a Deputy Attorney General who has expertise in the Freedom of Information Act. The presentations will help educate members of the public, government officials and government employees about their rights and responsibilities under Delaware’s open government laws. Sessions will cover a wide range of FOIA topics and include a question-and-answer session.
“Upholding Delaware’s open government laws is one of the Attorney General’s Office’s most important duties,” Biden said. “We have worked over the past several years to give Delawareans more information about FOIA and to make it easier for members of the public to obtain the information the law says they should have. These FOIA Roadshow presentations will help elected officials, government employees and the public better understand their rights and responsibilities.”
Biden’s office will conduct the Roadshow presentations for county and municipal governments, other public bodies and interested organizations. If you are interested in having a FOIA Roadshow presentation for a governmental body that you serve on or a presentation for a group of which you are a member, send an email to OpenGovernment@delaware.gov. Biden’s office will give a Roadshow presentation on Feb. 12 for members of the Georgetown Town Government staff, and future presentations will be schedule soon throughout the state. Upcoming Roadshow presentations will be listed on the Attorney General’s web site.
The FOIA Roadshow initiative is the latest effort by Biden to promote knowledge of Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act and promote open government. Previous efforts include:
- Launching, in January of this year, a new interactive Web portal to increase Delawareans’ access to information about the State’s open government laws. The site, opinions.attorneygeneral.delaware.gov, contains Opinions issued by the Attorney General’s Office since 1995.
- Successfully suing the Camden-Wyoming Sewer and Water Authority in 2011 to force it to comply with the Freedom of Information Act after it denied citizens’ attempts to obtain public information about its operations.
- Championing legislation in 2010 that permits citizens to petition the Attorney General’s Office to address FOIA-related complaints against State agencies. Under prior law, citizens with open government complaints against State agencies were required to appeal to the Courts at their own expense.