A guide for Michigan public bodies and FOIA coordinators

Michigan Freedom of Information Act: five business days, itemized fees, deposits, and the appeal to the head

What MCL 15.231 et seq. requires of a FOIA coordinator since 2014 PA 563 — the five-day response and single ten-day extension, the six-component fee itemization, deposits and abandonment, the written public summary, the two-step appeal, and the fines that price a bad denial.

By Steve Goodyear, founder of Realizer Services Published September 4, 2026

Michigan's Freedom of Information Act — 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 et seq., in force since April 13, 1977 — was rebuilt for practical purposes by 2014 PA 563, effective July 1, 2015. The five-business-day clock survived; almost everything around it changed. Fees became a six-part itemization at the lowest-paid capable employee's wage, deposits gained a $50 trigger and a 45-day abandonment rule, every public body was ordered to publish procedures and a plain-language public summary, late responses began costing the body part of its own fee, a fee-appeal track appeared as section 10a, and a bad-faith civil fine of $2,500 to $7,500 arrived as section 10b. A FOIA coordinator today is running a statute whose most consequential provisions are ten years old, not fifty.

This guide covers who is bound and what a request needs, the coordinator's role, the five-day clock and how receipt is counted, the single extension, denials and the section 13 exemptions, fees, deposits and abandonment, the public summary, the appeal to the head of the public body and to court, and the fines and damages. Citations link to the Legislature's official compiled laws. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who is bound, and what a request needs

MCL 15.231(2) states the policy: all persons except those incarcerated in state or local correctional facilities “are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees.” A “public body” under MCL 15.232(h) is any executive-branch state agency, department, board, commission, council, or authority (but not the governor or lieutenant governor or their executive offices); any legislative-branch agency or council; any county, city, township, village, regional body, school district, special district, or municipal corporation, and their boards and agencies; and any other body created by, or primarily funded through, state or local authority. The judiciary is excluded. A “public record” is a writing prepared, owned, used, possessed, or retained by a public body in the performance of an official function, “from the time it is created”; software is not one. A “person” entitled to request excludes anyone serving a prison sentence.

Under MCL 15.233(1) a person may inspect, copy, or receive copies on giving the FOIA coordinator a written request — fax and e-mail count (15.232(m)) — “that describes a public record sufficiently to enable the public body to find the public record.” Unless the requester is indigent, the request must include a complete name, a postal-standard address, and a valid telephone number or e-mail address, and the same for an organization's agent. Any employee who receives a request must promptly forward it to the coordinator, who keeps every written request on file for at least a year (15.233(2)). Under MCL 15.236, a city, village, township, county, or state department must designate a FOIA coordinator responsible for accepting and processing requests and approving denials; for every other body it is the chief administrative officer; either may designate someone to act on their behalf. The individual responsible for a denial signs it (15.235(6)).

The five-business-day clock (MCL 15.235)

MCL 15.235(2) gives a public body five business days after receiving a request to do one of four things: grant it; deny it in writing; grant in part and deny in part in writing; or issue a notice “extending for not more than 10 business days the period during which the public body shall respond to the request.” A body “shall not issue more than 1 notice of extension for a particular request,” and the notice must specify the reasons and the date by which the body will decide (15.235(7)). The requester may agree in writing to a different timetable.

Counting the days, and when a request is received

The count runs from receipt, and receipt depends on the channel. Under 15.235(1), a request by fax, e-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”; one that lands in the spam or junk folder is not received until one day after the body becomes aware of it, and the body must record both the delivery time and the discovery time. Read literally, a request e-mailed on Monday is received Tuesday and due the following Tuesday; one handed across the counter on Monday is due the following Monday. Weekends and holidays are not business days, so the count runs on the body's own calendar.

Silence is a denial. Under 15.235(3), a failure to respond in time is the body's “final determination to deny the request” where the failure was willful and intentional, or where the request asked for information in its first 250 words or carried “freedom of information,” “information,” “FOIA,” “copy,” a recognizable misspelling, or a citation to the Act on the envelope or in the subject line — which captures nearly every request a coordinator sees. And under 15.235(4), in an action to compel disclosure the court “shall assess damages against the public body under section 10(7)” if it finds the body did not comply with subsection (2) and orders disclosure, tying a missed deadline directly to the $1,000 fine and $1,000 punitive damages discussed below.

Denials and the section 13 exemptions

A written denial is the body's final determination, and 15.235(5) prescribes its contents: an explanation of the basis under the Act or another statute for the exemption claimed; a certificate that the record does not exist under the name given or any other name reasonably known to the body, if that is the reason; a description of any record or information separated or deleted under section 14; a full explanation of the requester's right to submit to the head of the body a written appeal that specifically states the word “appeal” and identifies the reasons for reversal, or to seek judicial review under section 10; and notice of the right to attorneys' fees and damages if a court later orders disclosure.

The exemptions in MCL 15.243(1), subdivisions (a) through (cc), are discretionary — a body “may exempt” — and several turn on a balance the body must be ready to justify: personal information whose disclosure would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy; law enforcement investigating records, to the extent disclosure would cause one of the listed harms; records exempted by another statute; privileged material; and advisory communications preliminary to a final determination, only where the public interest in frank communication clearly outweighs the interest in disclosure in the particular instance. MCL 15.244 requires the body to separate exempt from nonexempt material, release the latter, and describe generally what was withheld unless the description would reveal it.

Fees: six components, one itemization (MCL 15.234)

MCL 15.234(1) permits a fee only if the body “has established, makes publicly available, and follows procedures and guidelines” under subsection (4), and caps the total at six components: labor to search for, locate, and examine records; labor to separate and delete exempt material, including necessary review; the actual, most economical cost of nonpaper media the requester asks for; paper copies at the actual incremental cost of duplication excluding labor, itemized per sheet and capped at 10 cents per sheet for letter and legal sizes; labor to duplicate or transfer digital records; and actual mailing cost by a reasonably economical method. Each labor component is charged at no more than the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee capable of the task “regardless of whether that person is available or who actually performs the labor,” and search and redaction labor in increments of 15 minutes or more with partial increments rounded down. No redaction labor may be charged for a record the body has already redacted and still holds.

Subsection (2) makes the itemization auditable: labor lines must show the hourly wage and hours; a fringe-benefit multiplier of up to 50 percent may be added only if the percentage is noted and only up to actual cost; overtime is excluded unless the requester stipulated it. Fees may be waived or reduced in the public interest, and the first $20 is waived for an individual who files an affidavit of indigence and for certain designated nonprofits. Subsection (3) is the rule most often missed: search, examination, review, and separation labor may not be charged at all “unless failure to charge a fee would result in unreasonably high costs to the public body because of the nature of the request in the particular instance, and the public body specifically identifies the nature of these unreasonably high costs.” Records already on the body's website carry no separation-labor charge, and the response must give the web address where practicable (15.234(5)). Lateness has a price: under 15.234(9), a body that misses the 15.235(2) period must cut its permitted labor charges by 5 percent for each day late, to a maximum of 50 percent, where the delay was willful and intentional or the request carried the FOIA keywords — and must note the reduction on the itemization.

Deposits, estimates, and abandonment

Under 15.234(8), in either its initial or its extension response the body may require a good-faith deposit before providing records if the entire estimated fee exceeds $50. The deposit may not exceed half of the estimate, must come with the detailed itemization, and must include “a best efforts estimate by the public body regarding the time frame it will take the public body to comply” — nonbinding, but to be made in good faith. A requester who did not pay in full for an earlier fulfilled request may be required to deposit up to 100 percent, subject to six statutory conditions (15.234(11)–(12)). Abandonment is precisely timed under 15.234(14): if a required deposit is not received within 45 days after the requester receives the notice, and the deposit has not been appealed under section 10a, the request is considered abandoned. The notice is deemed received three days after it is sent, and it must state the due date, which is 48 days after the sending date. A deposit notice without that date is defective on its face.

The written public summary and procedures and guidelines (MCL 15.234(4))

Every public body must establish procedures and guidelines to implement the Act and create “a written public summary” explaining, in language “easily understood by the general public,” how to submit requests, how to understand the body's responses, deposit requirements, fee calculations, and avenues for challenge and appeal. Both must be posted on the body's website if it has one, and provided free in every response to a written request (a link suffices) and on request at the office. The procedures must include a standard form itemizing each of the six fee components. The sanction is built in: a body that has not done this “shall not require deposits or charge fees otherwise permitted under this act until it is in compliance,” while remaining bound by everything else. The procedures and guidelines are not exempt records.

Appeals: to the head of the public body, then to court (MCL 15.240 and 15.240a)

Michigan has no records commissioner. Under MCL 15.240(1), a requester facing a final denial may, at his or her option, 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 denial,” or sue in the circuit court — the Court of Claims for a state public body — within 180 days of the final determination. The head has 10 business days after receiving an appeal to reverse the denial, uphold it in writing, split it, or, under unusual circumstances, extend once by not more than 10 business days; a board or commission is not considered to have received the appeal until its next regularly scheduled meeting (15.240(2)–(3)). If the head fails to respond or upholds any part, the requester may go to court, where the matter is decided de novo, “the burden is on the public body to sustain its denial,” the court may view the record in private, and the case is expedited (15.240(4)–(5)). A requester who prevails “shall” be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and disbursements, apportioned where either side prevails in part (15.240(6)).

Fee disputes have their own track. Under MCL 15.240a, added in 2014, a requester charged more than the body's procedures or section 4 permit may appeal to the head for a reduction, if the body's procedures allow fee appeals, or sue for one within 45 days of the fee notice or the head's determination; the head has 10 business days to waive, reduce, or uphold the fee with a certified written basis, or to extend once by 10 business days. A requester who wins a reduction of 50 percent or more may be awarded fees at the court's discretion.

Fines and punitive damages

Three provisions put numbers on non-compliance. Under 15.240(7), if the body “arbitrarily and capriciously violated this act by refusal or delay in disclosing or providing copies of a public record,” the court shall order a $1,000 civil fine to the state treasury and award the requester $1,000 in punitive damages on top of any actual damages. Under 15.240a(7), an arbitrarily and capriciously excessive fee draws a $500 fine and up to $500 in punitive damages. And under MCL 15.240b, effective July 1, 2015, a body that “willfully and intentionally failed to comply with this act or otherwise acted in bad faith” shall pay a civil fine of not less than $2,500 and not more than $7,500 for each occurrence, in addition to any other award, weighed against the body's budget and prior penalties. Fines and damages fall on the public body, not the coordinator personally.

What a defensible Michigan FOIA operation looks like

Designate the FOIA coordinator and a deputy under MCL 15.236, and direct every employee to forward requests the day they arrive.
Publish the procedures and guidelines, the plain-language public summary, and the six-component itemization form, and attach them or a link to every response — no fees or deposits until this is done.
Stamp receipt correctly: electronic requests are received one business day after transmission; log spam-folder delivery and discovery times.
Calendar day five on receipt and decide by day three whether the single ten-business-day extension is needed; the notice must state reasons and a date.
Build every fee from a time record at the lowest-paid capable employee's wage, in 15-minute increments rounded down; charge search and review labor only on a specifically identified unreasonably-high-cost finding.
Issue deposit notices only above $50, for no more than half, with the itemization, a good-faith time estimate, and the 48-day due date written in.
Template the denial so all five elements of MCL 15.235(5) are present, have the designated individual sign it, and track the appeal to the head and the 180-day suit window.

Where AccessPoint fits

Much of Michigan's compliance burden is arithmetic: a receipt date that depends on the channel, one extension of ten, a six-component fee at a specific wage in fifteen-minute steps, a $50 deposit trigger, a 48-day due date, a 45-day abandonment, a 10-day appeal clock, and a 180-day suit window. AccessPoint does that arithmetic inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant, and the Michigan jurisdiction pack loads the Act as the legal-authority spine with the state-holiday calendar, the section 13 exemptions colour-coded for redaction, the MCL 15.234 fee model, the extension and deposit notice templates, the two-step appeal workflow, and deposit and timeliness tracking against the $50 trigger, the 45-day rule, and the 180-day suit window.

Five days, one extension

A request is received on your own calendar day and its due date computed on the Michigan holiday calendar; the Extensions panel records the single ten-business-day extension with its reasons, and if the date passes the overdue status is applied automatically and written to the Activity feed.

Itemization from the ledger

Hours logged against the request by category feed the fee panel, which itemizes, waives, records payment against, and finalizes fees on the pack's MCL 15.234 model — so the itemization the statute demands is assembled from the time actually spent, not retyped from memory.

Deposit, estimate, and the 45-day rule

The pack's deposit tracking applies the 50-percent-over-$50 trigger and the 45-day balance rule; the deposit notice goes out from a template with the statutory wording; and the fee panel can suggest a fee-pending clock pause while the deposit is awaited. Closing an abandoned request remains a human decision.

Denials with all five elements

Decision letters come from milestone-typed templates with merge fields, the tenant can require the responsible official to sign off before a denial is sent, and the response package's exemption summary and redaction index describe what was separated under section 14.

Section 13, cited and separated

Every redaction carries its MCL 15.243 subdivision, with alternates, from the colour-coded catalogue; Find & redact and suggested redactions propose and never apply; the Redacted preview shows what the requester will receive; and a tenant setting can block export while any redaction is uncited.

Appeal to the head, then the court

The Complaints & Appeals module registers the written appeal as an appeal-kind case with the head of the public body as governing authority and its own 10-business-day clock; the 180-day suit window is tracked on the request; and evidence sets export productions Bates-stamped and hashed.

The Compliance & overdue report and Report Studio show how many requests are inside day five, inside an extension, awaiting a deposit, or on appeal — the numbers a board asks for, from the data the coordinator works in every day.

Michigan FOIA questions

How long does a Michigan public body have to respond to a FOIA request?

Five business days after it receives the request, under MCL 15.235(2), by granting it, denying it in writing, granting it in part and denying it in part, or issuing one written notice extending the time by not more than 10 business days. A request sent by e-mail, fax, or other electronic transmission is not received until one business day after it is sent, and one that lands in a spam or junk folder is not received until one day after the public body becomes aware of it. A failure to respond is treated as a final determination to deny if it was willful and intentional, or if the request used the words “freedom of information,” “information,” “FOIA,” or “copy” in its first 250 words or subject line.

What can a Michigan public body charge for a FOIA request?

Only the six components in MCL 15.234(1): labor to search for, locate, and examine records; labor to separate and delete exempt material (including necessary review); the actual cost of nonpaper media; paper copies at not more than 10 cents per sheet for letter or legal size; labor to duplicate; and actual mailing cost. Labor is charged at the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee capable of the task, in 15-minute increments rounded down, and may carry a fringe-benefit multiplier of up to 50 percent if the percentage is noted on the itemization. Search, examination, review, and separation labor may be charged only where failing to charge would result in unreasonably high costs that the body specifically identifies. The first $20 is waived for a requester who submits an affidavit of indigence and for certain designated nonprofits.

When can a Michigan public body require a deposit?

Under MCL 15.234(8), when the entire estimated fee exceeds $50, the body may require a good-faith deposit of not more than half of the total estimated fee, accompanied by the detailed itemization and a best-efforts, nonbinding estimate of when the records will be provided. Under MCL 15.234(11), a requester who did not pay in full for an earlier fulfilled request may be required to deposit up to 100 percent, subject to six conditions. Under MCL 15.234(14), if a required deposit is not received within 45 days of the requester receiving the notice — and the deposit has not been appealed under section 10a — the request is considered abandoned; the notice is deemed received three days after it is sent and must state the due date, which is 48 days after the sending date.

What are the written public summary and procedures-and-guidelines duties?

MCL 15.234(4) requires every public body to establish procedures and guidelines to implement the Act and to create a written public summary, in plain language, explaining how to submit requests, how to understand the body's responses, deposit requirements, fee calculations, and avenues for challenge and appeal. Both must be posted on the body's website if it has one and provided free in every response to a written request (a website link suffices) and on request at the office. The procedures must include a standard form itemizing each of the six fee components. A body that has not done this may not require deposits or charge fees until it complies.

How does a requester appeal a Michigan FOIA denial?

Under MCL 15.240(1), a requester may submit to the head of the public body a written appeal that specifically states the word “appeal” and identifies the reasons for reversal, or may commence a civil action in the circuit court — the Court of Claims if a state public body is involved — within 180 days of the final determination. The head of the body has 10 business days to reverse the denial, uphold it in writing, reverse it in part, or, under unusual circumstances, issue one notice extending its time by not more than 10 business days; a board or commission is not considered to have received the appeal until its next regularly scheduled meeting. In court the matter is decided de novo with the burden on the public body, and a requester who prevails is awarded reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and disbursements.

What fines and damages does the Michigan FOIA impose?

Under MCL 15.240(7), if a court finds the public body arbitrarily and capriciously violated the Act by refusing or delaying disclosure, it must order a $1,000 civil fine payable to the state treasury and award the requester $1,000 in punitive damages in addition to any actual or compensatory damages. Under MCL 15.240b, added by 2014 PA 563 and effective July 1, 2015, a public body that willfully and intentionally failed to comply with the Act or otherwise acted in bad faith must pay a civil fine of not less than $2,500 and not more than $7,500 for each occurrence. Under MCL 15.240a(7), an arbitrarily and capriciously excessive fee draws a $500 civil fine and up to $500 in punitive damages. And under MCL 15.234(9), a late response cuts the labor charges the body may bill by 5 percent per day, to a maximum of 50 percent.

Sources

MCL 15.231 — Short title; public policy and MCL 15.232 — Definitions, Michigan Legislature (accessed September 2026)
MCL 15.233 — Request requirements; right to inspect and copy and MCL 15.236 — FOIA coordinator (accessed September 2026)
MCL 15.234 — Fees; procedures and guidelines; written public summary; deposits (as amended by 2014 PA 563, effective July 1, 2015, and later acts; accessed September 2026)
MCL 15.235 — Response to request; failure to respond; contents of notice of denial; extension (as amended by 2014 PA 563; accessed September 2026)
MCL 15.240 — Appeal; civil action; attorneys' fees; damages, MCL 15.240a — Fee appeals, and MCL 15.240b — Civil fine for willful and intentional failure to comply (sections 10a and 10b added by 2014 PA 563, effective July 1, 2015; accessed September 2026)
MCL 15.243 — Exemptions from disclosure and MCL 15.244 — Separation of exempt and nonexempt material (accessed September 2026)

Last reviewed: September 2026. This guide is general information for records practitioners, not legal advice — rely on the official text of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, MCL 15.231 et seq., and your public body's counsel.