CHAPTER 193
FORMERLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 244
AS AMENDED BY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 2
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 REGARDING THE DELAWARE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Title 29, Section 10004 by adding a new section (i) as follows:
"(i) In an enforcement action pursuant to § 10005 of this chapter, a citizen or the Attorney General, as the case may be, may seek the forfeiture of all or part of the compensation of members of a board, commission, or other public body for any closed meeting which such board, commission, or other public body closed knowing that such action violated this chapter. Such forfeiture may only be ordered by the court if the court makes a specific finding that the board, commission, or public body had no good faith basis to believe that the meeting could be closed. It shall be an absolute defense that an individual never voted in favor of the closed meeting. If the board, commission, or public body also met validity for other purposes on the same day as the meeting which violated the act, such valid action shall be considered by the court in determining the extent of any forfeiture award."
Section 2. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to that end the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.
Approved July 16, 1997