(The second in the FOIA Friday series.)

The most common question I've gotten after the start of this series on the Freedom of Information Act and the use of public records is the simple question - how do I file a FOIA request of my own? Here are some suggestions and points of contact.

The Reporter's Committee for the Freedom of the Press, a non-profit in Arlington, Va., has a FOIA Letter Generator that can be used by anyone. It's particularly good at identifying the specific point of contact for federal agencies, and in giving a reasonable overview of the varying state statutes on freedom of information and sunshine laws. The site will create a template letter you can then send.

In Michigan, local agencies accept FOIA requests in writing, which can include electronic mail, fax, postal mail, and delivery in person. Address the request to the FOIA coordinator. You don't need to know the exact name of the person to send it to. Not every organization will provide an email address for requests, though most have a fax number.

Expect the response to take a while. There's a standard turnaround time of five business days, and an automatic extra 10-day extension at the agency's option.

Your response may get turned down, in whole or in part, or it may be returned with some data missing or redacted. This appeal by Matt Hampel of the redaction of purchasing card information by Roger Fraser of the City of Ann Arbor is instructive; it points out that every time you don't get what you want from a request, you should be prepared to appeal.

As promised, here's a weekly update on FOIA activity, both from stories that have already run in AnnArbor.com and work in progress:

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. I received last week's FOIA about people being left behind at bus stops because the bus is full in the form of a Microsoft Word document, with annotations in a log format showing these events. The challenge is to turn that into more of a map of problem routes, times, and spots and tell a story about it. The next challenge is to figure out which set of data tells a story about the changes at Arborland.

Ann Arbor Police Department. A copy of a log of FOIA requests received by the AAPD showed the variety of reasons people ask for police reports - insurance concerns, private investigators, attorneys pursuing litigation, and the occasional reporter's query show up in those logs. Asking for the FOIA log is a cheap way to get a lot of insight into a system, since it's a directory of what someone else thought was interesting.

Washtenaw Intermediate School District. A request made by ████████ was returned with █████████ heavily redacted, according to ████████; I don't want to say more without requesting more information about the exact request made.

Michigan Liquor Control Commission. Our stories on MacArthur Boulevard have drawn from FOIA requests from the LCC, which has a very handy email or fax ready PDF form for requests for information.

City of Ann Arbor. The questions about the publication of e-mail from members of City Council continues, with our recent story focusing on cost considerations and technologies needed to accurately and effectively archive, retrieve, and redact email from the city's email system. A2Politico weighs in on the fallout from the Library Lot litigation, and the Ann Arbor Chronicle focuses on Open Meetings Act compliance.

City of Ann Arbor. My FOIA request for additional information about the East Stadium bridges was granted; it will cost me $1.75 to pick it up from the sixth floor of Ann Arbor City Hall.  I'll be heading there today to pick it up.

Edward Vielmetti is ████████ at AnnArbor.com and writes the FOIA Friday series.