Michigan FOIA Knowledge Center
How to Request Government Emails and Text Messages in Michigan
Communication requests become expensive when they name everyone, every account, and every possible term. The best requests are built around likely custodians, events, participants, and defined time periods.
Choose custodians and anchors
Name the officials or employees most likely to communicate, the counterparties, the date range, and the transaction or subject. Request attachments and identify whether you seek email, SMS, chat platforms, or all official communications.
Official function matters
Michigan defines public records through preparation, ownership, use, possession, or retention by a public body in performing an official function. Personal communications are not transformed into public records merely because a public employee sent them.
Search terms are tools, not the record
Keywords can help locate records but may produce false positives and miss coded or unexpected language. Combine names, domains, dates, and record categories. Consider requesting mailbox indexes or targeted correspondence first.
Preserve format and context
Ask for emails with header information and attachments, and for text-message exports with timestamps and participants. Screenshots can omit metadata and context.
Draft for the way people actually communicate
Names and dates usually outperform a long list of speculative keywords. Identify likely custodians and counterparties, describe the event or decision, and include attachments. If private devices or messaging platforms may have been used for official business, word the request around the public record—not merely the government-owned device.
Beware of a keyword list that looks precise but is not. Misspellings, abbreviations, project names, and informal references can cause relevant messages to be missed. A contract, calendar, meeting packet, or email index can reveal the vocabulary officials actually used.
Requester checklist
- Named custodians
- Counterparties
- Date range
- Subject/event
- Attachments
- Native export or metadata
Primary sources
External authorities control. Confirm the current statute, decision, policy, and local procedures before relying on them.