Michigan FOIA law allows a public body to use discretion in waiving fees for requests for public records. While fees for records requests are allowed under law, they are not mandated, and government departments can and do share information all the time without requiring payment of fees for each transaction.

Here's a guide for asking for information from public bodies in such a way that it doesn't require fee payments and copying costs for every transaction. These are not sure fire strategies in the sense that it's unlikely that you will get everything you want, but they can help you frame your requests in such a way that you are seeking compliance and cooperation first and putting the sometimes adversarial nature of FOIA in the background.

Public interest exemption

Michigan state law (at MCL 15.234(1)) allows you to ask for a fee waiver for a FOIA request.

A search for a public record may be conducted or copies of public records may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if the public body determines that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because searching for or furnishing copies of the public record can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public.

I looked for cases at the state level and didn't find any that specifically addressed this, but there are a few federal cases that provide some guidance for how to phrase your request for a fee waiver. If you are asking for reduced fees, following these strategies will help you frame you request in such a way as to make it easy for the organization to say yes.

Show that the public interest outweighs any personal or commercial interest. Identify any commercial interests that you have in the data, and explain why the public interest in the information is substantial enough to outweigh any considerations of commercial gain. If it looks like you are in it to make a profit, you're unlikely to get fee waivers, unless you can provide a compelling account of how the greater public will have the primary benefit.

Demonstrate an ability and willingness to disseminate information. Identify ways in which you and your organization will use the records requested to inform the public. This is a place where media organizations can and do have an advantage in getting records, because a cooperative government agency can see directly how release of materials to them would be serving the public. Individuals without access to mass media should be prepared to describe their effectiveness at reaching a relevant portion of the public through other means.

Show expertise and understanding of records. The more information that you already have about a topic, the less likely it is that the government's work to unearth primary sources of information for you will land in the lap of someone who is confused by what they see. Identifying and expressing your existing competence in understanding the operations of government increases that chance that you will be able to fulfill a public interest requirement.

Ask nicely for something uncomplicated. Informal fee waivers are more likely to happen when you have a contact within an organization which sees you as an ally in explaining his or her complex story to the public. Some service oriented agencies are much more forthcoming than others, and you may be able to identify individuals who are used to getting complicated internal requests for information. Your questions may anticipate existing policy questions that they would like to answer.

FOIA requesters are not compelled to explain why they want the records they are asking for, and they are not compelled to disclose for what purposes they intend to use the information.

Links

Two guides to requesting fee waivers from Federal agencies, one from the National Archives, and one from the Corporation for National and Community Service, were helpful in preparing this guide.

Edward Vielmetti writes the FOIA Friday column for AnnArbor.com.