Delaware settles FOIA lawsuit with ex-treasurer

Delaware has agreed to pay its former treasurer $22,500 in taxpayer money to drop a public records lawsuit over former Gov. Jack Markell's correspondence.

Associated Press

January 19, 2018

Former Delaware State Treasurer Chip Flowers speaks during a news conference in Dover in August 2014. (File/WHYY)

Delaware has agreed to pay its former treasurer $22,500 in taxpayer money to drop a public records lawsuit over former Gov. Jack Markell’s correspondence.

The News-Journal reports the settlement was reached with ex-treasurer Chip Flowers after Thanksgiving and confirmed by Flowers and state officials this week.

Flowers, who clashed with Markell during his four-year term, had requested specific emails sent by Markell and other senior government officials and filed a lawsuit when some were denied.

A Delaware Superior Court judge ruled in August that Delaware’s highest executive has broad authority to shield his emails from public view.

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Flowers told the newspaper the settlement only covered about a third of his legal fees. He initially planned to appeal the Superior Court ruling to the state Supreme Court but changed his mind.

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