Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Judge denies MLive FOIA request for Grand Rapids police phone calls

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A judge has rejected MLive's request that the city of Grand Rapids release recorded phones calls of police investigating a former Kent County prosecutor's crash.

MLive and the Grand Rapids Press sought recordings of five telephone calls on a phone designated non-recorded.

The calls involved fired Lt. Matt Janiskee talking to an officer, Adam Ickes, who described former prosecutor Josh Kuiper as "hammered," and to Sgt. Thomas Warwick, who drove Kuiper home after the Nov. 19 crash.

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Michigan TV station gets $38K FOIA bill as Home for Veterans investigation continues

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A local lawmaker is asking questions about a now year-long investigation of possible criminal behavior at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans by the state's Attorney General.

The investigation started in May of last year and, to date, no criminal charges have been announced by Attorney General Bill Schuette.

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Mich. State sues ESPN over sex assault investigation records

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Michigan State University is suing ESPN over a public records request involving police reports relating to ongoing sexual assault investigations.

MSU argues in a court filing that it has been put in an "impossible position" because Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon's office asked the university to withhold the records and ESPN asked for them to be released.

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Michigan Gov Snyder signs FOIA exemption bill for fair bidding, proprietary information protection

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Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law legislation that will exempt in-progress bids for public contracts from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests last week.

The legislation had been introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) in an effort to combat what he said has been abuse of the FOIA system to undercut Michigan businesses.

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Michigan: Snyder signs law shielding records until contract announced

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Bids submitted by companies vying for a state government contract will be exempted from public-records requests until the contract winner is announced under legislation signed by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The law, which takes effect immediately, shield records containing a trade secret or financial or propriety information from being released under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Continue…

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Michigan House Members Pass FOIA Expansion Bills

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Michigan House members on Thursday passed bills that would make the governor, lieutenant governor and the Legislature accountable under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The package of 10 bills — a bipartisan effort — passed unanimously and now moves to the GOP-controlled Senate where its future is not so certain.

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Michigan FOIA expansion bills tweaked in committee

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The House Competitiveness Committee is expected to act Thursday on bills expanding public records acts to the governor's office and legislature under new, tightened language.

Michigan is one of two states that currently does not subject the legislature or governor to its open records laws, which helped the it earn the bottom spot on a 2015 ranking of transparency among the states.

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MI: Bill would bring more transparency to state government, but there’s a loophole

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Rep. Chatfield said this proposal is similar to the legislation introduced last session. Last year, Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof shut down the bill because it didn't include an exception to correspondence received from a lawmaker's constituents.

That remains a major sticking point for this year's version of the legislation. The definition of a "constituent" is up for interpretation and could create a sizable loophole.

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Legislation aimed at government transparency resurrected in Michigan

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On Wednesday legislation aimed at government transparency was resurrected in the Michigan State House.

The bipartisan bills would allow you to formally request information from the governor’s office down to the state legislature. However the bills may prompt a showdown between the State House and the State Senate.

House lawmakers from both parties are putting State Senators on the spot, putting them on notice that there needs to be more government transparency in Michigan.

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Michigan Environmental Office Repeatedly Stonewalls Record Requests

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Rep. Phil Phelps, D-Flushing, says it took months for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to respond to his Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the Flint water crisis. The department initially said the documents did not exist, but months later the lawmaker received tens of thousands of documents the agency had withheld.

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