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The Michigan Press Association says it is monitoring as local governments adapt to an influx of public attention related to data centers.
A notice on the city of Mason’s website says it may take up to 60 days to provide public records requested through the Freedom of Information Act due to an increase in requests related to data centers.
Under state law, public bodies must respond to Freedom of Information Act requests within five business days and are allowed a single extension of 10 business days.
But they can take longer to fulfill the requests under a court ruling.
Michigan Press Association general counsel Jennifer Dukarski said there is no flexibility in the law for when local governments receive more requests than they have the staff to process in a timely fashion.
But she said people making requests often won’t object to officials saying they need more time “as long as it’s done in a good faith manner.”
Posting a notice on the city’s website is more concerning, Dukarski said, because it’s more akin to an official policy.
“It really lacks that relational nature where you feel like you're communicating in good faith with the public body,” Dukarski said. “While it may be that the community really needs that amount of time, it’s hard to say if you’re not in contact.”
Dukarski said the Michigan Press Association is concerned about whether other FOIA requests not related to data centers would be handled within the statutory timeframe and whether the extended period could set a precedent that the city tries to leverage long-term.
“No matter how many requests are filed, the public body still has the duty and obligation to be transparent to those who elected them,” Dukarski said. “So, while there may be some compassion in the fact that these are organizations that aren’t staffed well, that don’t have a lot of extra time to fulfill FOIA requests, it is still a critical part of the mission of a public body to keep the public informed.”
Another concern is whether records will be heavily redacted or come with a hefty processing fee despite the prolonged timeline.
“The timeframe itself is bad,” Dukarski said. “But let’s not lose sight of the fact that, will the information we get once we live through this delay be any better than the information that we used to get when they took less time and tried to respond quickly.”
Mason city officials did not respond to a request for comment.
