Michigan Department of Civil Rights Freedom of Information Act Procedures and Guidelines

706.02               FOIA Procedures and Guidelines

REFERENCE: Act No. 442, Public Acts of 1976 (as amended), “Freedom of Information Act” (MCL 5.231 et. seq.)

A. Appointment of FOIA Coordinator.

In accordance with section 6 of the FOIA, MCL 15.236, the Department has appointed a FOIA Coordinator, as well as an alternate FOIA Coordinator. The names of the FOIA Coordinator and alternate FOIA Coordinator are available from the Department's Executive Office.

B. Submission of FOIA Request.

FOIA requests to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (and/or its divisions, commissions, committees, etc.) can be sent by email or mail to:

Include your name, phone number, and mailing address in your request so that we may contact you if we have questions, and so that we can provide you with the documents when they are ready.

C. Immediately Forward FOIA Request.

Any employee of the Department who receives a written request for a public record must immediately forward that request to the FOIA Coordinator as described in Section 705.01. If a Department employee receives a written request for a public record that is delivered to a spam or junk mail folder, the employee must record the date and time the written request is delivered to the spam or junk mail folder and date and time the employee first becomes aware of the written request. The employee must forward those dates and times to the FOIA Coordinator with the written request. Due to the short statutory time period within which the Department must issue a written notice in response to the FOIA request, it is imperative that there be no delay in complying with these procedures and guidelines.

D. Request Response Time.

The Department may extend the time for responding to a request by an additional 10 business days by notifying the requesting person in writing of the reason for the extension and the new due date as described at MCL 15.235(2)(d) and (6).

E. Response to a FOIA Request.

Only the Department's FOIA Coordinator or Alternate FOIA Coordinator will respond to FOIA requests. The department will provide copies of these procedures and guidelines and a summary of these procedures and guidelines, or provide a link to an on line version of these documents, with each written response. If a request is denied, in full or in part, the Department will provide the requester an explanation of the basis of the denial under the FOIA, and give notice to the requester of his or her remedial rights. MCL 15.235(4)

F. Notification of FOIA Request.

Upon receipt of a FOIA request, the Department's FOIA Coordinator will determine whether there may be non-exempt records responsive to the request that are not located in the MDCR Records Center or otherwise immediately available for his or her review. If so, the Coordinator will contact the person or agency in possession of the records and either: ensure that the records will be immediately forwarded for review by the Coordinator; or ensure that the records will be reviewed by another person the Coordinator determines has sufficient knowledge of FOIA and that all records subject to FOIA are then forwarded to the Coordinator by that person.

G. Division Response to Department's FOIA Coordinator.

A person or agency contacted by the Coordinator pursuant to subsection (F) shall, as soon as possible, but not more than two business days after receiving notice from the Coordinator, provide either the complete file, a complete copy thereof, or indicate how and when the material is to be reviewed by another person the Coordinator believes has sufficient knowledge of FOIA to determine whether the requested records are to be provided pursuant to FOIA. The Department’s Office of Legal Affairs shall be contacted immediately if the Coordinator has any concern that the person or agency in possession of such records is not complying fully with FOIA and/or the terms of this policy.

H. Assessment of Fees for a FOIA Request.

The statute permits the Department to charge a fee for the search, retrieval, examination, and review of records, and the separation and deletion of exempt from nonexempt information, but only if the failure to charge a fee would result in unreasonably high costs to the Department due to the nature of the particular request, and the Department specifically identifies the nature of these unreasonably high costs. MCL 15.234(1) and (3).

The following fee guidelines for calculating labor and material costs incurred in processing FOIA requests are established pursuant to MCL 15.234(3):

1. Fees will be uniform and not dependent upon the identity of the requesting person.
2. Fees will be itemized using the attached detailed itemization form and will include:
   1. Labor costs for the search, location, and examination of public records will be calculated using the hourly wage of the Department's lowest paid employee capable of conducting the search, location, and examination, whether or not they are available or actually perform the labor. Such labor costs shall be estimated and charged in increments of 15 minutes with all partial increments rounded down. The hourly wage will be based on the Department's payroll records for the applicable fiscal year. Labor costs shall also include up to 50% of the hourly wage to partially cover the cost of fringe benefits, not to exceed the actual cost of fringe benefits.
   2. Labor costs for the review of public records and separation and deletion of exempt from nonexempt material will be calculated using the hourly wage of the Department's lowest paid employee capable of conducting the review and separation and deletion of exempt from nonexempt material, whether or not they are available or actually perform the labor. Such labor costs shall be estimated and charged in increments of 15 minutes with all partial increments rounded down. The hourly wage will be based on the Department's payroll records for the applicable fiscal year. Labor costs shall also include up to 50% of the hourly wage to partially cover the cost of fringe benefits, not to exceed the actual cost of fringe benefits.
   3. Nonpaper physical media costs will be calculated using the actual and most reasonably economical cost of computer discs, computer tapes, and other digital and similar media provided by the Department.
   4. Duplication and publication costs will be calculated using the actual total incremental cost of necessary duplication or publication of a public record, not including labor. The actual and incremental cost, calculated per sheet, shall be charged and will not exceed 10 cents per sheet of paper for letter or legal size paper. The Department shall use the most economical means available for making copies, including the use of double-sided printing, if cost saving and available.
   5. Labor costs for the duplication or publication of public records, including making paper copies, making digital copies, or transferring digital public records to be produced on nonpaper physical media or through electronic means, will be calculated using the hourly wage of the Department's lowest paid employee capable of duplicating or publishing the public records, whether or not they are available or actually perform the labor. Such labor costs shall be estimated and charged in increments of 15 minutes with all partial increments rounded down. The hourly wage will be based on the Department's payroll records for the applicable fiscal year. Labor costs shall also include up to 50% of the hourly wage to partially cover the cost of fringe benefits, not to exceed the actual cost of fringe benefits.
   6. Actual costs of mailing using a reasonably economical and justifiable manner.
3. No Department employee shall stipulate to work overtime or include overtime wages in the labor costs described in these procedures and guidelines.
4. If a requester submits an affidavit of indigency, the first $20.00 of a fee will be waived. A requesting person must include a statement that the request is not being made in conjunction with outside parties in exchange for payment or other remuneration. Other than $20.00 for cases of indigency, no Department employee shall waive a fee or any part of a fee without authorization from a member of the Department’s Executive Team (alternate: the Department’s Director, Deputy Director, or Director of Law and Policy). 
5. Labor costs for monitoring an inspection of original records will be calculated using the hourly wage of the Department's lowest paid employee capable of monitoring the inspection. Labor costs for monitoring an inspection will not be charged for the first hour. The hourly wage will be based on the Department's payroll records for the applicable fiscal year. Note: Section 3(3) of the FOIA, MCL 15.233(3), provides, in pertinent part, that "[a] public body shall protect public records from loss, unauthorized alteration, mutilation, or destruction."
6. If a statute authorizes the sale or production of public records to the public for a specified fee or if a fee for production of public records is otherwise set by statute, the Department will charge the statutory fee in lieu of a fee calculated using the guidelines set forth above.
7. The Department will not charge a fee for the search, retrieval, examination, and review of records, and separation and deletion of exempt from nonexempt information that will take less than one hour. If the search, retrieval, examination, review, separation and deletion will take more than one hour the Department is unable to reasonably absorb the costs and a fee will be charged in accordance with this procedure pursuant to section 4 of the FOIA, MCL 15.234. The hourly wage will be based on the Department's payroll records for the applicable fiscal year.

I. Deposit Requirements.

If the Department estimates a fee to process a FOIA request greater than $50.00, the Department will require a good-faith deposit from the requestor before providing the public records to the requestor. The deposit will equal one half of the total estimated fee. The written notice requiring a deposit include an itemized estimate showing how the total fee was determined and a best efforts estimate by the Department of how long after a deposit is received it will take the Department to provide the public records to the requestor. The time frame estimate is not binding upon the Department, but the Department shall provide the estimate in good faith and strive to be reasonably accurate and to provide the public records in a manner based on this State's public policy under section 1 of the FOIA, MCL 15.231, and the nature of the request in the particular instance.

J. Appeals of Fees and Disclosure Determinations.

If the Department charges a fee or denies all or part of a request, the requestor may submit to the head of the Department a written appeal that specifically states the word "appeal" and identifies the basis for which the fee should be reduced or the disclosure determination should be reversed. The file number assigned to the FOIA request being appealed, along with the person’s name, phone number, and mailing address should appear at the top of the appeal, which may be sent by email or mail to:

Appeals will be forwarded to the Department Director or a person designated by the Director to respond to written appeals on his or her behalf and who was not involved in the decision being appealed.