Freelance journalist Eric VanDussen is working to document the differences in how medical marijuana cases are being prosecuted in Michigan counties, according to a Holland Sentinel story of May 28, 2011, "Ottawa County turns over medical marijuana records". It details his requests to 83 counties for their prosecution records for marijuana offenses, and notes that he took Ottawa County to court in his home county (Grand Traverse County?) to get them to produce the records. They settled before the matter went to trial; similarly, the Leader and Kalkaskan reports COUNTY PROSECUTOR SETTLES FOIA LAWSUIT: Journalist to Receive 'Confined' Material where a similar settlement was agreed to in Kalkaska County.
When you are telling a statewide story in Michigan and using public records from a plethora of local governments to tell it, it's worth noting that if you have to go to court you can pick and choose where to go, within reason. From MCL 15.240(4), emphasis added:
(4) In an action commenced under subsection (1)(b), a court that determines a public record is not exempt from disclosure shall order the public body to cease withholding or to produce all or a portion of a public record wrongfully withheld, regardless of the location of the public record. The circuit court for the county in which the complainant resides or has his or her principal place of business, or the circuit court for the county in which the public record or an office of the public body is located has venue over the action. The court shall determine the matter de novo and the burden is on the public body to sustain its denial. The court, on its own motion, may view the public record in controversy in private before reaching a decision. Failure to comply with an order of the court may be punished as contempt of court.
If you think your request is going to go to court, then you should decide carefully where to ask it from; this is especially true if you want to take advantage of the fact that it can be a 10 hour drive from Houghton to Ann Arbor and people will be willing to settle their differences instead of going to trial somewhere inconvenient.
Previously: a profile of VanDussen.
Update: a thread on the Michigan Cannabis Patients forum (warning: link may be fragile; search for "kalkaska michigan foia michigan cannabis") has a complete copy of the Kalkaska lawsuit and some of the back story behind it in that county.
Update: a thread on the same forum re Ottawa County includes the complaint filed and also the settlement agreement entered into.
