$77,000 question: freedom of information.

• Author: Denning, C.R.
• Position: Data - Brief article

FREEDOM OF Information Acts (FOIAs) are intended to make it easy for citizens to obtain government documents. But when Michigan mom Sherry Smith filed a request for email records regarding her special-needs son, Goodrich Area Schools told her it would cost $77,718.75.

"It will be necessary to hire someone to assist us with sorting through the email content you have requested," Superintendent Michelle Imbrunone wrote in response to Smith's request. "The current estimate is that it may require up to 4,687.5 hours at the current clerical hourly employee rate of $16.58 per hour."

In July, Michigan amended its FOIA law to prevent public bodies from refusing, delaying, or charging "unreasonable fees" to fulfill requests. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said the changes should remind government employees that they "are working on behalf of our...