Bay County Building
515 Center Avenue
Bay City, Michigan 48708-5941

Freedom of Information Act Policy Updates

Public Act 563 (2014),required significant changes to the Freedom of Information Act. The 2014amendment resulted in new requirements for responding to requests forpublic records. In accordance with the Act, the Bay County Board ofCommissioners has established Bay County's FOIA Procedures andGuidelines. A written Public Summary of the specific procedures tosubmit requests, how to understand a public body's written responses,fee calculations, and avenues for challenge and appeal was also created.

TheBay County Executive has designated a FOIA Coordinator to act on hisbehalf in accepting and processing requests for public records from BayCounty. Debra Russell, Director of Administrative Services, acts as theBay County FOIA Coordinator. The County's policy with respect to FOIArequests is to comply with State law in all respects and to respond toFOIA requests in a consistent, fair, and even-handed manner regardlessof who makes such a request.

You may learn more about the new FOIA policy, by visiting the newly created FOIA Information webpage.Here you can find the procedures and guidelines, policy summary and allof the necessary forms pertaining to FOIA. Additionally, you can now submit a FOIA request electronically through the Bay County website.