Unfortunately, the earlier email from some one else alluded to the fact that they could not see records, unless they were paid for. This simply isn't so with FOIA. I realize that she can charge a reasonable fee for copies. Jan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lawrence Kestenbaum" > It's not as simple as that. She wasn't preventing the records from being > disclosed -- rather, she was charging extortionate fees for them. > > The remedy for a violation of the Freedom of Information Act is to go to > court to get a judge to order compliance. Indeed, I have been to court to > enforce FOIA. However, in this case I was trying for a more gentle > approach, to persuade the Clerk to use her discretion in a sensible way, > rather than creating litigation between two county officials. > > Moreover, though I have not looked at this recently, I believe that birth > and death records as such (and the fees charged) are not fully subject to > FOIA, due to exceptions in the statutes. > > The fact that the clerk's office repeatedly and falsely denied having a > particular record would probably be seen as a "mistake" rather than a > violation. In the past, I have dealt with this by asking the public body > to acknowledge in writing that they have violated the statute which makes > it a crime to destroy certain kinds of public records; this invariably > motivates them to discover the record they had insisted was "lost"! > > Larry > > --- > Lawrence Kestenbaum, polygon@potifos.com > Candidate for County Clerk/Register, http://KestenbaumCampaign.com > The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com > Mailing address: P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106 > >