South Kent News

Soon after the Mackinac Center sued the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to get documents about Michigan businesses suspect of violating COVID-19 orders, the documents were released. But that was six months after the center made the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

On June 5, 2020, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy wanted copies of cease-and-desist letters that the department sent to businesses it said violated Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency executive order, the Mackinac Center said on its website. Copies of complaints about businesses that allegedly violated the same orders also were requested. Restaurants suspected of exceeding capacity limits and people using golf carts when they were prohibited were among the complaints.

“Michigan's public records law exists so people can see what their government is doing and hold them accountable," Jarrett Skorup, director of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center, said on the website. "But what good is the law if the government can withhold information for as long as they want? We’re pleased that the department has finally released the information, but it shouldn’t require waiting six months and filing a lawsuit to get public records from government officials.”

The $1,373 costs estimated by the state were paid on July 7. The department cited a need to review voluminous records and the broad scope of the request as causes for the delay. After the Mackinac Center filed its lawsuit, the department released the records.

This is not the first time the Mackinac Center sued the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs for taking months to fulfill FOIA requests. Other lawsuits were filed against Wayne State when the institution ignored the law, the University of Michigan, the state of Michigan and the city of Westland.