Foreword

The Michigan Freedom of Information Act, and its companion the Michigan Open Meetings Act, were passed in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, led by the efforts of the late Rep. Perry Bullard. The laws provide citizens with the right to examine and view the workings of their government and to examine the records that it produces.

This guide was written in 2012 and 2013 and is based in part on a series of articles written for AnnArbor.com during 2010 and 2011. It illustrates in plain language how and why you might use FOIA laws to obtain government documents. The guide should be useful for people involved in the political process, as well as for businesses that work or want to work on government contracts. From fixing a broken sidewalk to obtaining a crime report, the Michigan Freedom of Information Act is a versatile tool to ensure that you are not ignored when it is your turn to deal with City Hall.

To whatever extent possible, this work also makes comparisons with other state FOIA laws as well as the Federal FOIA statutes. The basic recommendations that don’t depend on particular statutes are all very reusable, and it is hoped that this guide has wide appeal beyond the boundaries of the Great Lakes State.

Outline

Chapter 1 introduces with Michigan Freedom of Information Act with a sample FOIA request, illustrating the basic elements of such a request. Chapter 2 follows with a list of the types of information that you might be interested in getting through the FOIA process. Chapter 3 addresses fees for FOIA requests and makes practical suggestions on how to minimize your costs. Chapter 4 looks at how to make your FOIA request go through the system quickly, and looks at delays in the process that you can avoid.

Not every FOIA request is successful on the first try, and it is important in your use of the FOIA process to know how to appeal a rejected request. Chapter 5 looks at exemptions written into the Michigan FOIA laws that allow a government to refuse to provide records that it holds. Chapter 6 discusses the appeals process, and provides a sample FOIA appeal for a rejected request. Chapter 7 looks at how you can rewrite a rejected request to get a positive answer for a modification of your original request, and Chapter 8 looks at some cases where organizations have gone to court to pursue their appeals through the judicial system.

Chapter 8x illustrates the defensive side of the Freedom of Information Act, and is designed for public officials in public bodies that wish to withhold, obstruct, or deny access to public records all within the scope of the law. Followed scrupulously, these tactics can frustrate and intimidate potential public records requesters and keep public records private.

Closely related to the Michigan FOIA laws is the Michigan Open Meetings Act, which ensures that meetings of public bodies are conducted in public. Chapter 9 looks at the practical aspects of open meetings laws, and Chapter 10 looks at remedies that you can pursue if you believe that a meeting has been held out of the public eye.

You’ll find lists of organizations that support the Freedom of Information Act in the appendix, as well as a list of exercises suitable for groups looking to test or audit the FOIA behavior of a public body.

About this edition

This is an early draft of the book. The basic outline is complete, but several chapters are nearly empty, and others are partially complete. Only a few people have seen the manuscript, and the bits that are specific references to Michigan state laws have not been footnoted.

This draft starts to introduce details from other states and from Federal FOIA laws, and the process of working that detail in will take some time.

Federal FOIA law is considerably more complex in its day to day operations than the equivalent requests aimed at your average small Michigan city, and the Federal portions of this work need review by someone more familiar with all of that process.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following people who have helped with the manuscript or with the original columns from which the examples were drawn. All mistakes and errors are my own.

  • Alan Gutierrez for “git” help
  • Dan Romanchik
  • Dave Askins and Mary Morgan of the Ann Arbor Chronicle
  • James Pilcher
  • Jeff Irwin
  • John Roos, for coffee
  • Kai Petainen
  • Kathy Griswold
  • Kevin Schmidt
  • Kristin McMurray
  • Matt Hampel
  • Peter Honeyman, for keyboard help
  • Roger Rayle
  • Stefanie Murray for editing the AnnArbor.com “FOIA Friday” series
  • Vivienne Armentrout
  • The participants in the weekly #FOIAchat on Twitter

Colophon

  • MacBook (black), 2008, Mac OS X 10.6.8
  • vim version 7.2.108
  • Github
  • LeanPub
  • “Lobster Butter Love” coffee

Up next

Chapter 1: A sample FOIA request