Public records by state · Michigan
Michigan FOIA: deadlines, fees, exemptions, appeals
The Michigan Freedom of Information Act is MCL 15.231 through 15.246: the response clock, the fees, the exemptions, and what happens after a denial.
Request volume keeps climbing. AI-generated requests, social media, and reporters add to the queue, and records staff does not grow with it. In most offices review still happens one page at a time in Adobe, by one or two people. And the requests now pull in texts, photos, and whole email exports, not just memos.
Fees
What a public body may charge.
First, the bar. Fees require published FOIA procedures and guidelines and a written public summary, available free of charge and followed. Until then, no fees and no deposits. MCL 15.234(1) and (4).
Six components, itemized in detail. Labor is priced at the hourly wage of the lowest-paid capable employee, whoever actually does the work.
| Component | What it covers | The limits |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Labor to search, locate, and examine records. | 15 minute increments, rounded down. Only when failure to charge would result in unreasonably high costs to the public body, specifically identified. MCL 15.234(1)(a), (3). |
| (b) | Labor to separate and delete exempt information. | Same increments, same test. Contract out only when no employee is capable, at up to 6 times the state minimum wage: $82.38 an hour at the 2026 rate of $13.73. Barred if the body kept a redacted version, or the record was already on its website. MCL 15.234(1)(b), (3), (5). |
| (c) | Nonpaper physical media, when requested. | Actual, most reasonably economical cost of the media, if the body has the technological capability. MCL 15.234(1)(c). |
| (d) | Paper copies. | 10 cents a sheet maximum, letter or legal size. Labor belongs in (e). MCL 15.234(1)(d). |
| (e) | Labor to duplicate or publish, paper or digital. | Increments of the body's choosing, rounded down. MCL 15.234(1)(e). |
| (f) | Mailing. | Actual cost, reasonably economical. Cheapest delivery confirmation allowed. No expedited shipping or insurance unless the requester asked. MCL 15.234(1)(f). |
- Fringe benefits. Up to 50 percent of the labor on (a), (b), and (e), never more than actual cost. No overtime unless stipulated. MCL 15.234(2).
- Deposits. Up to half the estimate when the estimate exceeds $50. MCL 15.234(8).
- Waivers. The first $20 is waived on an indigency affidavit, unless taken from that body twice that calendar year or an outside party pays for the request. Public-interest reductions are discretionary. MCL 15.234(2).
The itemization above builds itself in our free Michigan fee calculator. No signup, runs in your browser.
When a denial is challenged
Appeals, and what noncompliance costs.
Two routes after a denial
A written appeal to the head of the public body, who has 10 business days plus one extension of up to 10 business days. MCL 15.240(1)(a) and (2).
Or a civil action in circuit court within 180 days of the final determination. The body must sustain its denial. A complete win brings mandatory reasonable attorney fees, costs, and disbursements; a partial win, discretionary. MCL 15.240(1)(b), (4), and (6).
Fee challenges
A fee appeal goes in writing to the head of the body, stating the word "appeal", or to circuit court within 45 days of the fee notice. The court reduces the fee to a permissible amount. MCL 15.240a.
$1,000 + $1,000
Arbitrary and capricious refusal or delay: a $1,000 civil fine to the state plus $1,000 punitive damages to the requester. MCL 15.240(7).
$500 + $500
An arbitrarily and capriciously excessive fee: a $500 fine plus $500 punitive damages. MCL 15.240a.
$2,500 TO $7,500
Willful and intentional failure to comply, or other bad faith: a civil fine of $2,500 to $7,500 for each occurrence. MCL 15.240b.
The clock
Response deadlines.
When the clock starts. A request must be written and describe the record well enough to find it. Email and fax requests are received 1 business day after sending. One found in spam is received 1 day after the body becomes aware of it. MCL 15.235(1).
Within 5 business days of receipt: grant, deny in writing, grant in part and deny the rest in writing, or extend once, in writing, by not more than 10 business days. MCL 15.235(2).
Silence counts. No response is a final determination to deny if the failure was willful and intentional, or the request used "freedom of information", "information", "FOIA", or "copy" in its first 250 words or on the envelope or subject line. MCL 15.235(3).
A denial has required contents: the exemption explained or a certificate that the record does not exist, a description of separated material, appeal rights, and notice that fees and damages are available in court. MCL 15.235(5).
Exemptions
What may be withheld.
MCL 15.243 lists the exemptions in lettered subdivisions. The lead-in says a public body may exempt, so most are discretionary; the body can choose to release. A few under subsection (2) are mandatory, such as records whose release would violate the federal student records law. Seen most:
- (a) Personal privacy. Information of a personal nature where disclosure would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy.
- (b) Law enforcement investigating records, only to the extent disclosure would cause a listed harm.
- (d) Exempted by another statute.
- (g) Attorney-client privileged material.
- (m) Frank communications. Advisory and nonfactual, preliminary to a final determination, where frank communication clearly outweighs disclosure.
- (u) Security measures. Plans, codes, combinations, passwords, passes, keys, and security procedures.
- (w) Social Security numbers.
A partly exempt record still gets released. The body must separate exempt from nonexempt and release the rest. MCL 15.244.
The act
Who the act covers.
Any person can ask, except a person serving a sentence in a state, county, or federal correctional facility.
A public body includes:
- State executive agencies, departments, boards, and commissions.
- Agencies, boards, commissions, and councils in the legislative branch.
- Counties, cities, townships, villages, school districts, and special districts.
- Any other body created by, or primarily funded by, state or local authority.
Excluded: the judiciary; and the governor, the lieutenant governor, their executive offices, and their employees.
MCL 15.231, 15.232
What a requester may do
Inspect, copy, or receive copies
A written request that describes the record well enough entitles a person to inspect, copy, or receive copies, including certified copies. MCL 15.233.
Who answers
The FOIA coordinator
Cities, villages, townships, counties, and state departments must designate one to accept and process requests and approve denials. They may delegate. Elsewhere the chief administrative officer serves. MCL 15.236.
Practical notes
For the person actually answering requests.
- Publish your procedures, guidelines, and written summary, free of charge. Until then, no fee and no deposit. MCL 15.234(4).
- Log when electronic requests arrive and when they were found. Those dates start your 5 days. MCL 15.235(1).
- Keep the redacted version of anything you redact. While you hold one, redaction labor cannot be charged for that record again. MCL 15.234(1)(b).
- Post frequently requested records. Records already on your website carry no redaction labor charge. MCL 15.234(5).
- Describe what came out. Name the exemption and the separated material in every denial and partial release. MCL 15.235(5), 15.244(2).
Michigan FOIA questions, answered from the statute
How long does a Michigan public body have to respond to a FOIA request?
Five business days after receipt. The body must grant, deny in writing, grant in part and deny in part in writing, or extend once in writing by up to 10 business days. Email and fax requests are received 1 business day after sending. MCL 15.235.
What can a Michigan public body charge for a FOIA request?
Only the six components in MCL 15.234: search and examination labor, redaction labor, nonpaper media, paper copies at up to 10 cents a sheet, duplication labor, and mailing. Labor is priced at the lowest-paid capable employee's wage. No published procedures, guidelines, and written summary means no fee.
What happens if a Michigan FOIA response is late?
The labor portion of the fee must drop 5 percent per day late, up to 50 percent, if the lateness was willful and intentional or the request identified itself with words like FOIA in its first 250 words or subject line. MCL 15.234(9).
What records are exempt from disclosure under Michigan FOIA?
MCL 15.243 lists the exemptions in lettered subdivisions: personal privacy, law enforcement investigating records, records exempted by another statute, attorney-client privilege, frank advisory communications, security measures, Social Security numbers, and more. Most are discretionary. A partly exempt record must be separated and the rest released.
How do you appeal a Michigan FOIA denial?
Appeal in writing to the head of the public body: 10 business days plus one 10 business day extension. Or sue in circuit court within 180 days of the final determination. The body carries the burden; a complete win brings mandatory attorney fees and costs. MCL 15.240.
What penalties can a court impose under Michigan FOIA?
Arbitrary and capricious refusal or delay: $1,000 civil fine to the state plus $1,000 punitive damages to the requester, MCL 15.240(7). An arbitrarily and capriciously excessive fee: $500 plus $500, MCL 15.240a. Willful and intentional noncompliance or bad faith: $2,500 to $7,500 per occurrence, MCL 15.240b.
This page is general information, not legal advice. The statute is the authority: read it at legislature.mi.gov and check anything that matters before it goes out.
The redaction is usually the slow part.
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