Walk It Through: The Records Request
A written request, 5 business days and one extension, and an appeal or suit after a denial.
A resident emails a township's FOIA coordinator for road repair bids.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One request to a township. The exemptions in section 13, fees and the indigency waiver in detail are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Freedom of Information ActMichigan's public records law. A written request describing a record well enough to find it gives a right to inspect, copy or receive copies, and the public body has to respond within 5 business days after it receives the request.
- Security depositA deposit a landlord may require for a rental unit, which may not exceed one and a half months' rent.