[Michlib-l] FOIA Requests

[Mutch, Andrew]

Nannette,

You should consult an attorney well-versed in the details of what FOIA does and does not require you to do to ensure that you are responding appropriately. However, as a general rule, a  FOIA request can only apply to an existing public document. If you normally create a monthly report with the data she is requesting, you would likely be required to provide that to her. Or if the data exists in a document that falls within the scope of FOIA, you would be required to provide it. But, if no such document exists, you are not required to create a document to meet her information request.

Here’s the relevant section of the statute:

“(5) This Act does not require a public body to create a new public record, except as required in section 11, and to the extent required by this Act for the furnishing of copies, or edited copies pursuant to section 14(1), of an already existing public record.”

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/ag/FOIA_Pamphlet_380084_7.pdf

Also, be aware that there have been a number of changes to the FOIA statute in the past couple of years so if you haven’t reviewed all of the changes recently, you’ll want to get up to speed on those to ensure that you’re staying compliant with the current state of the law. My 2 cents – not legal advice and not necessarily the opinion of my employer.

Good luck!

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library



From: michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org [mailto:michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org] On Behalf Of Nannette Miller
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2016 12:28 PM
To: Michlib-l <michlib-l at mcls.org>
Subject: [Michlib-l] FOIA Requests

Hi,  Has anyone gotten what I call a nuisance FOIA request? A local resident sent a letter wanting our statistics for 5 years, including number of people using the library, number of cards issued, computer usage, budget and income/expense statements, and my salary. We put links to the Annual State Aid Reports on our website and I referred her to those, as allowed by FOIA. She now wants everything by the month. I explained I would have to charge her to do the work to compile those monthly numbers, and she said she doesn't care.

Based on other things she and her little band who don't think Elk Rapids needs a library are doing I'm sure this is just to make things difficult. Any suggestions?

--
[https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bz80TZwblruLTkVaS3dVeTVNMk0&export=download]
Nannette Miller | Director
Elk Rapids District Library
231.264.9979 | erlib.director at gmail.com<mailto:erlib.director at gmail.com> | elkrapidslibrary.org<http://elkrapidslibrary.org>
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