Simon PLC Attorneys & Counselors – August 2026 Memorandum
Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a Primer on Appeals
Troy, MI. The Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq., ensures public access to official state records, but navigating a denial requires strict adherence to statutory deadlines and court rules. When a state-level agency (including public universities) denies a FOIA request, your path to judicial review goes through the Michigan Court of Claims, rather than a county circuit court. Escalating a transparency dispute to this specialized arena demands precision, from establishing initial standing to satisfying complex filing mandates in order to compel information disclosure.
Navigating the Michigan FOIA Denial Process
When an agency denies a request, they must provide a written notice outlining the specific legal exemption and informing you of your right to appeal. Requesters generally have two distinct pathways to contest a public body’s decision:
- Optional Administrative Appeal: You can submit a written appeal directly to the head of the public body. The document must explicitly feature the word “appeal” and detail the exact reasons the denial should be reversed. The agency head has 10 business days to respond by reversing the denial, upholding it, or issuing a partial modification.
- Direct Judicial Review: You are not legally required to exhaust administrative appeals before going to court. You can bypass the agency head entirely and file a civil action directly.
Crucial Thresholds: Standing and Timelines
To successfully launch a lawsuit, you must have legal standing. On April 23, 2026, in Lesko v. Supreme Felons, Inc., No. 37681, the Michigan Court of Appeals clarified that only the exact “requesting person” named in the initial FOIA application holds the right to file a lawsuit. Notably, if a corporate employee or journalist files a request explicitly on behalf of their organization, the entity itself—not the individual employee—holds the exclusive standing to sue. Additionally, strict timelines apply. A lawsuit challenging a denial must be filed within 180 days of the agency’s final determination. If you are challenging an excessive fee in order to obtain documents, the window shrinks significantly to just 45 days.
Taking the Fight to the Court of Claims
While standard FOIA actions against local entities (like cities, school boards) are filed in local county circuit courts, MCL 600.6419 mandates that civil actions against state-level departments, boards, officers (including public universities) must be brought in the Michigan Court of Claims (COC).
Litigating in this specialized venue introduces unique procedural rules under the Court of Claims Act (COCA). A common trap for plaintiffs is assuming that standard FOIA procedures override COCA requirements. In the case 2025 case Buzo v. Michigan Department of Corrections, Case No 25-000139-MZ, the COA firmly ruled that FOIA plaintiffs are not exempt from COCA mandates and dismissed the case because the plaintiff failed to personally verify the complaint. Instead, plaintiff’s attorney verified the complaint and the COC dismissed the case.
A plaintiff who filed a FOIA complaint must comply with the verification requirements of the COCA, the Court of Claims has decided. To avoid a swift dismissal, your FOIA complaint filed in the COC must be verified. This means the document needs to be signed under oath before a notary public or contain a formal declaration certifying that the statements are true under penalty of perjury.
Remedies and Potential Rewards
If you prevail in the COC, the court will issue an injunction forcing the state agency to disclose the withheld records. Furthermore, if the court determines the public body failed to comply with the law, it must award reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and disbursements. If the judge finds that the state agency acted arbitrarily and capriciously to delay or deny the records, the court will also award mandatory punitive damages, which is capped at $1,000.00 to the requester and $1,000.00 civil fine against the public body. If the judge finds that the state agency acted willfully and intentionally (bad faith) in withholding records, the civil fine can increase to $7,500,00.
Notably, the Michigan Court of Appeals, on July 17, 2026 in the case of Rotta v. City of Ludington, No 378444, upheld the fees charged by the Ludington Police Department for plaintiff’s FOIA request of 14 police body camera and in-car videos holding that the public body did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in charging a fee and thus no civil fine was warranted.
Simon PLC Can Help
N.B. Not Legal Advice: Please contact us if you would like to discuss the facts and circumstances of your specific matter. Simon PLC Attorneys & Counselors expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all the contents of this memorandum. The information contained herein may not reflect current legal developments and is provided without any knowledge as to the recipient’s location, industry, identity or specific circumstances. No recipients of this content, clients or otherwise, should act, or refrain from acting, on the basis of any content included in this memorandum without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from an attorney licensed in the jurisdiction for which the recipient’s legal issue(s) involve. The application and impact of relevant laws varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and our attorneys do not seek to practice law in states, territories and foreign countries where they are not properly authorized to do so.
