Bill Text: MI HB4468 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Civil rights; public records; method of correspondence used for freedom of information requests; modify. Amends sec. 5 of 1976 PA 442 (MCL 15.235).
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-04 - Assigned Pa 36'20 With Immediate Effect [HB4468 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-HB4468-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4468
April 17, 2019, Introduced by Reps. Steven Johnson, Robinson and Reilly and referred to the Committee on Oversight.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 442, entitled
"Freedom of information act,"
by amending section 5 (MCL 15.235), as amended by 2018 PA 105.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 5. (1) Except as provided in section 3, a person desiring
to inspect or receive a copy of a public record shall make a
written request for the public record to the FOIA coordinator of a
public body. A written request made by facsimile, electronic mail,
or other electronic transmission is not received by a public body's
FOIA coordinator until 1 business day after the electronic
transmission is made. However, if a written request is sent by
electronic mail and delivered to the public body's spam or junk-
mail folder, the request is not received until 1 day after the
public body first becomes aware of the written request. The public
body shall note in its records both the time a written request is
delivered to its spam or junk-mail folder and the time the public
body first becomes aware of that request.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the person making
the request, a public body shall, subject to subsection (10),
respond to a request for a public record within 5 business days
after the public body receives the request by doing 1 of the
following:
(a) Granting the request.
(b) Issuing a written notice to the requesting person denying
the request.
(c) Granting the request in part and issuing a written notice
to the requesting person denying the request in part.
(d) Issuing a notice extending for not more than 10 business
days the period during which the public body shall respond to the
request. A public body shall not issue more than 1 notice of
extension for a particular request.
(3)
Failure to respond to a request pursuant to under
subsection (2) constitutes a public body's final determination to
deny the request if either of the following applies:
(a) The failure was willful and intentional.
(b) The written request included language that conveyed a
request for information within the first 250 words of the body of a
letter, facsimile, electronic mail, or electronic mail attachment,
or specifically included the words, characters, or abbreviations
for "freedom of information", "information", "FOIA", "copy", or a
recognizable misspelling of such, or appropriate legal code
reference to this act, on the front of an envelope or in the
subject line of an electronic mail, letter, or facsimile cover
page.
(4) In a civil action to compel a public body's disclosure of
a public record under section 10, the court shall assess damages
against
the public body pursuant to under
section 10(7) if the
court has done both of the following:
(a) Determined that the public body has not complied with
subsection (2).
(b) Ordered the public body to disclose or provide copies of
all or a portion of the public record.
(5) A written notice denying a request for a public record in
whole or in part is a public body's final determination to deny the
request or portion of that request. The written notice must
contain:
(a) An explanation of the basis under this act or other
statute for the determination that the public record, or portion of
that public record, is exempt from disclosure, if that is the
reason for denying all or a portion of the request.
(b) A certificate that the public record does not exist under
the name given by the requester or by another name reasonably known
to the public body, if that is the reason for denying the request
or a portion of the request.
(c) A description of a public record or information on a
public
record that is separated or deleted pursuant to under
section 14, if a separation or deletion is made.
(d) A full explanation of the requesting person's right to do
either of the following:
(i) Submit to the head of the public body a written appeal
that specifically states the word "appeal" and identifies the
reason or reasons for reversal of the disclosure denial.
(ii) Seek judicial review of the denial under section 10.
(e) Notice of the right to receive attorneys' fees and damages
as provided in section 10 if, after judicial review, the court
determines that the public body has not complied with this section
and orders disclosure of all or a portion of a public record.
(6) The individual designated in section 6 as responsible for
the denial of the request shall sign the written notice of denial.
(7) If a public body issues a notice extending the period for
a response to the request, the notice must specify the reasons for
the extension and the date by which the public body will do 1 of
the following:
(a) Grant the request.
(b) Issue a written notice to the requesting person denying
the request.
(c) Grant the request in part and issue a written notice to
the requesting person denying the request in part.
(8) If a public body makes a final determination to deny in
whole or in part a request to inspect or receive a copy of a public
record or portion of that public record, the requesting person may
do either of the following:
(a)
Appeal the denial to the head of the public body pursuant
to
under section 10.
(b)
Commence a civil action, pursuant to under section 10.
(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act to the
contrary, a public body that maintains a law enforcement records
management system and stores public records for another public body
that subscribes to the law enforcement records management system is
not in possession of, retaining, or the custodian of, a public
record stored on behalf of the subscribing public body. If the
public body that maintains a law enforcement records management
system receives a written request for a public record that is
stored on behalf of a subscribing public body, the public body that
maintains the law enforcement records management system shall,
within 10 business days after receipt of the request, give written
notice to the requesting person identifying the subscribing public
body and stating that the requesting person shall submit the
request to the subscribing public body. As used in this subsection,
"law enforcement records management system" means a data storage
system that may be used voluntarily by subscribers, including any
subscribing public bodies, to share information and facilitate
intergovernmental collaboration in the provision of law enforcement
services.
(10) A person making a request under subsection (1) may
stipulate that the public body's response under subsection (2) be
electronically mailed, delivered by facsimile, or delivered by
first-class mail. This subsection does not apply if the public body
lacks the technological capability to provide an electronically
mailed response.
