Gaining Access to Government Data During COVID-19 with FOIA and OMA

Join Warner attorneys, Kristina Araya, Daniel Ettinger and Brian Wassom for a webinar focused on two key legal tools for gaining access to government data: the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA). We will share tips, tricks and recent developments from a legal insider’s perspective along with a background on the Michigan and federal FOIAs. We will discuss the circumstances under which accepting public money subjects private entities to FOIA, and how to approach FOIA requests – both when seeking information and when trying to protect confidential information shared with a public body. We will also address FOIA exemptions used to withhold information and the process to appeal a public body’s FOIA response.

Additionally, we will address the basics of the OMA, including public notice, the right of the public to attend and participate in meetings, closed sessions, quorums, requirements for decisions and the legal consequences of violating the OMA. 

Finally, we will address FOIA and OMA issues that have arisen as a result of COVID-19, including the Governor’s executive orders which have temporarily altered the requirements of those statutes.