AATA Revises FOIA Policy

The AATA board has adopted a revised policy for responding to requests made under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. [.pdf of revised FOIA policy] The vote came at its Jan. 17, 2013 board meeting. The new policy replaces the old one, which was approved on Feb. 16, 2004. [.pdf of old FOIA policy]

The old policy was brief (one-page) and essentially outlined how much would be charged for copies, for labor to retrieve records, and how much would be charged as a deposit. The new policy is more detailed, and specifies how requests are to be logged and documented by the FOIA coordinator, a form that requesters can use to request records, and an internal form that is to be used by staff to calculate costs associated with fulfilling a request. AATA’s FOIA coordinator is deputy director of the AATA, Dawn Gabay.

The city of Ann Arbor’s administrative policy is somewhat more detailed that the AATA’s revised policy. [.pdf of city of Ann Arbor policy]

This brief was filed from the downtown location of the Ann Arbor District Library at 343 S. Fifth Ave., where the AATA board holds its meetings. A more detailed report will follow: [link]