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Michigan FOIA requests for police surveillance records

Find the holding agency's FOIA coordinator, include the required contact fields, track responses and deposits, and separate denial appeals from fee disputes.

Sources checked .

Conceptual illustration

Check the requester definition and contact requirements

MCL 15.232 defines eligible persons and excludes individuals serving imprisonment sentences in the specified state, county or federal facilities. Check that definition before relying on a request route. Michigan: requester definitions

MCL 15.233 requires a sufficiently described written request and, except for the stated indigency exception, the requester's complete name, USPS-standard address and valid phone number or email. Entity requests also need an individual agent's details. The template includes these ordinary-request fields; check the statutory exception if relevant. Michigan: request description and contact fields

Use the holding public body's coordinator

The Attorney General directs requests for a particular public body's records to that body. Find its published FOIA coordinator and procedures. Michigan AG: request guidance

For Michigan State Police records, MSP lists its portal as well as email, fax and mail alternatives. It says a form is not required and asks requesters not to send duplicate copies through multiple methods. These are MSP's channels, not one statewide inbox for local police records. Michigan State Police: its request channels

Track legal receipt and the response

MCL 15.235 generally gives five business days after receipt for a grant, denial, partial grant/denial or one extension of up to ten business days, unless otherwise agreed in writing. This concerns the response, not a promise of complete production by day five. Michigan: response and special hosting rule

The section treats electronic requests as received one business day after transmission. Email in spam or junk is received one day after the body first becomes aware of it. Keep the transmission and response dates rather than assuming the send date starts every clock. Michigan: response and special hosting rule

A special rule in subsection (9) covers a body hosting a subscribing agency's law-enforcement records system. That host has ten business days to identify the subscribing body in writing and direct the requester there; it is not treated as custodian of the subscriber's stored record. Michigan: response and special hosting rule

Review fee details and deposit deadlines

MCL 15.234 requires published procedures and detailed fee itemization. It restricts certain search, review and redaction charges to the stated unreasonably-high-cost circumstances. Ask for the fee basis before committing to costs. Michigan: fees, deposits and abandonment

Its ordinary deposit rule permits up to half the estimated fee when the estimate exceeds $50, with itemization and a good-faith production estimate. Additional rules address prior unpaid requests. Under subsection (14), an unpaid deposit can make a request abandoned after the specified 45-day receipt period unless the deposit is appealed; the notice must state the payment deadline. Read that notice promptly. Michigan: fees, deposits and abandonment

Copy and adapt the request

Replace each bracketed field, narrow the log dates and check the correct recipient. This text is for existing records and does not submit a request.

Download request template (.txt)

To: [Holding public body's FOIA coordinator]

Date: [MM-DD-YYYY]

Subject: Michigan FOIA request: plate-reader governance records

I request electronic copies of the following existing records held by [public body] for [start date] through [end date]:

1. Plate-reader operating policies, retention schedules, audit procedures and training materials effective during the period.

2. Executed equipment and data-service contracts, amendments, purchase orders and invoices during the period.

3. Existing lists of sharing partners and executed data-sharing agreements effective during the period.

4. Existing access or query audit logs for [narrow date range], subject to applicable exemptions and lawful redaction. This request concerns system governance rather than an individual's movement history.

Please provide the applicable written response, including the specific legal basis for withheld portions and a description of deletions or separations. Please provide the accessible remainder.

Please supply a detailed fee itemization and contact me before charges exceed [$ amount]. If a deposit is required, please provide the applicable estimate, deposit deadline and production time-frame estimate.

I request an emailed response, if technologically available, at [email address].

Complete name: [complete name]

USPS-standard address: [street address, city, state and ZIP code]

Contact: [valid phone number or email address]

Entity agent, if applicable: [individual agent's complete name, USPS-standard address and contact information]

Separate disclosure denial from a fee dispute

For a final disclosure denial, MCL 15.240 offers a written appeal to the public body's head, explicitly using the word appeal and explaining why the denial should be reversed. It also provides a court action within 180 days after the final denial, in circuit court or, for a state public body's decision, the Court of Claims. Michigan: disclosure-denial review

The head generally has ten business days to decide the disclosure appeal, with one unusual-circumstances extension of up to ten more. A board or commission's receipt rule runs from its first regularly scheduled meeting after submission. Michigan: disclosure-denial review

MCL 15.240a separately governs excessive fees. Where the public body provides an internal fee-appeal route, use the statutory appeal wording and grounds. Its court route has a 45-day period from receiving the fee notice or fee-appeal determination and specified conditions concerning internal review. Do not apply the disclosure-denial deadline to a fee dispute. Michigan: separate fee-dispute review

Questions and answers

Is a special request form mandatory?

The AG guidance says no specific form is required, but the written request must describe identifiable records. The statutory contact requirements still matter. Michigan AG: request guidance · Michigan: request description and contact fields

Does the same court deadline govern denial and fee disputes?

MCL 15.240 gives the disclosure-denial route; MCL 15.240a separately sets the fee-dispute period and review conditions. Michigan: disclosure-denial review · Michigan: separate fee-dispute review

Can the Attorney General give me private legal advice on the dispute?

Its FOIA guidance says the law does not permit legal advice or opinions to private individuals. Michigan AG: request guidance

Sources and scope

Current Michigan Legislature sections, displayed as complete through PA 114 of 2026, and current AG/MSP instructions checked 10-23-2026. Request fields, electronic receipt, the special records-system hosting rule, deposits and separate disclosure/fee review routes are preserved.

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