Bill Text: MI SB0840 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Civil rights: other; access to public record search under legislative open records act (LORA); provide for. Amends 1976 PA 442 (MCL 15.231 - 15.246) by adding sec. 25. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0837'20
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-4)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-12 - Referred To Committee On Oversight [SB0840 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-SB0840-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL NO. 840
March 12, 2020, Introduced by Senators MCBROOM,
MOSS, LUCIDO, BULLOCK, BAYER, POLEHANKI, MCMORROW, IRWIN, GEISS, BRINKS,
MCCANN, RUNESTAD, WOJNO, BARRETT, HERTEL and HOLLIER and referred to the
Committee on Oversight.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 442, entitled
"Freedom of information act,"
(MCL 15.231 to 15.246) by adding section 25.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 25. (1) Except as provided in
section 23, to inspect or receive a copy of a public record under this part, a
person shall submit a written request for the public record to the LORA
coordinator of the public body. A written request made by facsimile, electronic
mail, or other electronic transmission under this part is not considered to be
received by a public body's LORA coordinator until 1 business day after the
electronic transmission is made. However, if a written request is sent by
electronic mail and delivered to the public body's spam or junk mail folder,
the request is not received until 1 day after the public body first becomes
aware of the written request. The public body shall note in its records both
the time a written request is delivered to its spam or junk-mail folder and the
time the public body first becomes aware of that request.
(2)
Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the person making the request, a
public body shall respond to a request for a public record within 5 business
days after the public body receives the request by doing 1 of the following:
(a)
Granting the request.
(b)
Issuing a written notice to the requesting person denying the request.
(c)
Granting the request in part and issuing a written notice to the requesting
person denying the request in part.
(d)
Issuing a notice extending for not more than 10 business days the time by which
the public body must respond to the request. A public body shall not issue more
than 1 notice of extension for each request.
(3)
Failure to respond to a request pursuant to subsection (2) constitutes a public
body's final determination to deny the request if either of the following
applies:
(a)
The failure was willful and intentional.
(b)
The written request included language that conveyed a request for information
within the first 250 words of the body of a letter, facsimile, electronic mail,
or electronic mail attachment, or specifically included the words, characters,
or abbreviations for "freedom of information", "open records",
"information", "LORA", "copy", or a recognizable
misspelling of such, or appropriate legal code reference to this part, on the
front of an envelope or in the subject line of an electronic mail, letter, or
facsimile cover page.
(4)
A written notice denying a request for a public record in whole or in part is a
public body's final determination to deny the request or portion of that
request. The written notice shall contain all of the following:
(a)
An explanation of the basis under this part or other statute for the determination
that the public record, or portion of that public record, is exempt from
disclosure, if that is the reason for denying all or a portion of the request.
(b)
A certificate that the public record does not exist under the name given by the
requester or by another name reasonably known to the public body, if that is
the reason for denying the request or a portion of the request.
(c)
A description of a public record or information on a public record that is
separated or deleted pursuant to section 29e, if a separation or deletion is
made.
(d)
A full explanation of the requesting person's right to do either of the
following:
(i) Submit a written request for
reconsideration to the public body's LORA coordinator that specifically states
the word "reconsideration", "appeal",
"redetermination", or "reverse" and identifies the reason
or reasons for reversal of the disclosure denial.
(ii) Seek final review of the denial
under section 29a.
(5)
The individual designated under sections 26 to 28 as a LORA coordinator or under
section 29 as a LORA coordinator designee shall sign the written notice of
denial.
(6)
If a public body issues a notice extending the period for a response to the
request, the notice shall specify the reasons for the extension and the date by
which the public body will do 1 of the following:
(a)
Grant the request.
(b)
Issue a written notice to the requesting person denying the request.
(c)
Grant the request in part and issue a written notice to the requesting person
denying the request in part.
(7)
If a public body makes a final determination to deny in whole or in part a
request to inspect or receive a copy of a public record or portion of a public
record, the requesting person may seek reconsideration or appeal of the denial
as provided in section 29a.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January 1, 2021.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 837 of the 100th Legislature is enacted into law.
