GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is suing the city of Grand Rapids over a monthslong wait on a public records request.

In March, the ACLU submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeking information on why the Grand Rapids Police Department was taking so long to respond to previous records requests. According to the lawsuit, the GRPD responded that this would require about two hours of work, cost the ACLU about $74—and take eight to 10 months.

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“By delaying the production of public records responsive to (ACLU’s) FOIA request for eight-10 months, when fulfillment of the request only takes 2.25 hours, defendant has violated and continues to violate FOIA by failing to furnish ACLU ‘a reasonable opportunity for inspection and examination of its public records’ under the ACT and/or constructively denying (ACLU’s) request,” attorneys for ACLU wrote in the lawsuit.

The GRPD said the lengthy response time was due to the number of FOIA requests the agency was fielding. In 2022, the agency processed over 2,000 FOIA requests, nearly doubling the workload since 2018.

Attorney Peter Armstrong Sr is suing the city with ACLU. He told MLive that he believes the public records request delay is a problem for many others besides the ACLU.

“It’s a lack of resources,” he said. “The city and the department have simply not provided the resources necessary to accomplish the objectives and the transparency required by the statute.”

In the city’s response to the ACLU’s initial filing with the FOIA Appeals Committee, a Grand Rapids assistant city attorney said the city is responding to the records request in good faith and has not denied the ACLU’s request, either expressly or constructively.

“The GRPD is not acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner but is responding to FOIA requests in the order in which they are received,” the city attorney wrote.