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Procedures and Guidelines
(Effective date January 26, 2026)
Summary
Section 1 of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA” or “the statute”) provides, "It is the public policy of this state that all persons, except those persons incarcerated in state or local correctional facilities, are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees, consistent with this act. The people shall be informed so that they may fully participate in the democratic process.”1 To that end, all people, excluding prisoners, are allowed to file FOIA requests with Michigan State University (“MSU” or “the University”). A requester must simply file a request in writing with MSU’s FOIA Office, and MSU will begin processing their request.2
MSU, in its initial response, will do one of the following within the timeframe permitted by the statute: grant the request, partially grant the request, deny the request, inform the requester that additional time is needed, require a fee deposit prior to further processing, or inform the requester that the requested record has not been sufficiently described.
If a request is denied or partially denied, MSU will explain why the documents have not been released and inform the requester of their challenge and appeal options.
A fee deposit will be required when processing a request will require significant MSU employee time and resources. The University will notify the requester of the estimated cost and provide a non-binding, best efforts estimate of the time it will take to complete the processing of the request. It is possible that after further processing of the request, the University will determine that the cost of processing the request is significantly less or greater than the estimated cost. If that is the case, MSU will notify the requester to allow the requester to determine whether and how he or she wants to proceed with the request.
After MSU receives a required deposit, it will make every effort to provide the requested documents within the time estimate provided. Requesters must understand, however, that at any given time, MSU is processing multiple requests and cannot devote all of its time to one particular request.
If a requester feels that he or she was wrongly denied responsive documents, he or she may appeal to the President of MSU or file a civil action. If a requester believes that MSU has required a fee that exceeds the amount permitted under the Procedures and Guidelines, he or she may file a civil action. Requesters are also always free to contact the FOIA Office with any questions about the processing of their requests.
Detailed Procedures and Guidelines follow.
Download Procedures and Guidelines here.
1 M.C.L.A. 15.231.
2 Verbal requests for information are not FOIA requests for purposes of these Procedures and Guidelines. If a verbal request for information is received by an MSU employee who knows that the information is available on MSU’s website, the employee, where practicable, will inform the requester about MSU’s website address.
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3 MSU has determined, consistent with FOIA, that failure to charge fees in situations where the fees would be equal to or greater than $50.00 would result in unreasonably high costs to the University.
4 A copy of the standard form that MSU uses for fee itemization, with additional explanatory information, is attached to these Procedures and Guidelines.
5 Labor costs will be estimated and charged in increments of 15 minutes or more, with all partial time increments rounded down. The labor is charged at the hourly rate of the lowest paid MSU employee capable of doing the work, plus fringe benefits, if applicable. If it is not possible for the work to be done by an MSU employee, MSU will contract the work out and charge per the provisions of the statute.