Michigan FOIA Knowledge Center
Michigan FOIA Deadlines and Extensions
Michigan FOIA imposes a short deadline for the public body to respond, but that response is not always the day records must be delivered. Requesters should track each statutory event separately.
The initial response period
A public body generally must respond within five business days after receiving a written request. The response may grant the request, deny it, grant it in part, or issue a notice extending the response period.
The extension
The public body may issue a written notice extending the response period by not more than ten business days. The notice should identify why the extension is necessary and the date by which the body will respond. Repeated unilateral statutory extensions are not the ordinary structure of the Act.
Response is not always production
A timely response may grant the request while estimating when production will occur or requiring a permitted deposit. Track the statutory response date, the promised production date, deposit date, and each revised commitment. Delay questions can become fact-specific.
Denials and litigation timing
A final written denial starts important appeal and litigation clocks. A disclosure action generally must be commenced within 180 days after the final determination to deny. Do not assume continuing correspondence restarts that period.
A response is not necessarily a production
The first deadline answers a procedural question: did the public body respond on time? It does not always answer the practical question: when will the records arrive? A response may grant the request, deny it, grant it in part, request a deposit, or invoke the statutory extension. Record each event separately.
If the body grants the request but gives only an open-ended promise to produce records later, ask for a good-faith completion date and whether readily available portions can be produced first. A courteous written follow-up creates a much better record than weeks of informal telephone calls.
Requester checklist
- Received date
- Five-business-day date
- Extension notice and new date
- Deposit request
- Promised production date
- Final denial date
Primary sources
External authorities control. Confirm the current statute, decision, policy, and local procedures before relying on them.