HOUSE BILL No. 4008

 

 

January 9, 2019, Introduced by Reps. Guerra, Hauck, Lasinski, Glenn, Schroeder, Berman, Allor and Filler and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 442, entitled

 

"Freedom of information act,"

 

by amending sections 1 and 2 (MCL 15.231 and 15.232), section 1 as

 

amended by 1997 PA 6 and section 2 as amended by 2018 PA 68, and by

 

designating part 1.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

PART 1

 

     Sec. 1. (1) This act may be cited as the "freedom of

 

information and legislative open records act", and this part shall

 

be known and may be cited as the "freedom of information act".

 

     (2) It is the public policy of this state that all persons,

 

except those persons incarcerated in state or local correctional

 

facilities, are entitled to full and complete information regarding

 

the affairs of government and the official acts of those who

 

represent them as public officials and public employees, consistent

 

with this act. The people shall be informed so that they may fully

 

participate in the democratic process.

 

     Sec. 2. As used in this act:part:

 

     (a) "Cybersecurity assessment" means an investigation

 

undertaken by a person, governmental body, or other entity to

 

identify vulnerabilities in cybersecurity plans.

 

     (b) "Cybersecurity incident" includes, but is not limited to,

 

a computer network intrusion or attempted intrusion; a breach of

 

primary computer network controls; unauthorized access to programs,

 

data, or information contained in a computer system; or actions by

 

a third party that materially affect component performance or,

 

because of impact to component systems, prevent normal computer

 

system activities.

 

     (c) "Cybersecurity plan" includes, but is not limited to,

 

information about a person's information systems, network security,

 

encryption, network mapping, access control, passwords,

 

authentication practices, computer hardware or software, or

 

response to cybersecurity incidents.

 

     (d) "Cybersecurity vulnerability" means a deficiency within

 

computer hardware or software, or within a computer network or

 

information system, that could be exploited by unauthorized parties

 

for use against an individual computer user or a computer network

 

or information system.

 

     (e) "Field name" means the label or identification of an

 

element of a computer database that contains a specific item of

 

information, and includes but is not limited to a subject heading

such as a column header, data dictionary, or record layout.

 

     (f) "FOIA coordinator" means either of the following:

 

     (i) An individual who is a public body.

 

     (ii) An individual designated by a public body in accordance

 

with section 6 to accept and process requests for public records

 

under this act.

 

     (g) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited

 

liability company, partnership, firm, organization, association,

 

governmental entity, or other legal entity. Person does not include

 

an individual serving a sentence of imprisonment in a state or

 

county correctional facility in this state or any other state, or

 

in a federal correctional facility.

 

     (h) "Public body" means any of the following:

 

     (i) A state officer, employee, agency, department, division,

 

bureau, board, commission, council, authority, or other body in the

 

executive branch of the state government. , but does not include

 

the governor or lieutenant governor, the executive office of the

 

governor or lieutenant governor, or employees thereof.

 

     (ii) An agency, board, commission, or council in the

 

legislative branch of the state government.

 

     (ii) (iii) A county, city, township, village, intercounty,

 

intercity, or regional governing body, council, school district,

 

special district, or municipal corporation, or a board, department,

 

commission, council, or agency thereof.

 

     (iii) (iv) Any other body that is created by state or local

 

authority or is primarily funded by or through state or local

 

authority, except that it does not include the judiciary, including

the office of the county clerk and its employees when acting in the

 

capacity of clerk to the circuit court, is not included in the

 

definition of public body.or an entity in the legislative branch of

 

state government.

 

     (i) "Public record" means a writing prepared, owned, used, in

 

the possession of, or retained by a public body in the performance

 

of an official function, from the time it is created. Public record

 

does not include computer software. This act separates public

 

records into the following 2 classes:

 

     (i) Those that are exempt from disclosure under section 13.

 

     (ii) All public records that are not exempt from disclosure

 

under section 13 and that are subject to disclosure under this act.

 

     (j) "Software" means a set of statements or instructions that

 

when incorporated in a machine usable medium is capable of causing

 

a machine or device having information processing capabilities to

 

indicate, perform, or achieve a particular function, task, or

 

result. Software does not include computer-stored information or

 

data, or a field name if disclosure of that field name does not

 

violate a software license.

 

     (k) "Unusual circumstances" means any 1 or a combination of

 

the following, but only to the extent necessary for the proper

 

processing of a request:

 

     (i) The need to search for, collect, or appropriately examine

 

or review a voluminous amount of separate and distinct public

 

records pursuant to a single request.

 

     (ii) The need to collect the requested public records from

 

numerous field offices, facilities, or other establishments which

that are located apart from the particular office receiving or

 

processing the request.

 

     (l) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing,

 

photostating, photographing, photocopying, and every other means of

 

recording, and includes letters, words, pictures, sounds, or

 

symbols, or combinations thereof, and papers, maps, magnetic or

 

paper tapes, photographic films or prints, microfilm, microfiche,

 

magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, hard drives, solid state

 

storage components, or other means of recording or retaining

 

meaningful content.

 

     (m) "Written request" means a writing that asks for

 

information, and includes a writing transmitted by facsimile,

 

electronic mail, or other electronic means.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January

 

1, 2020.

 

     Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect

 

unless Senate Bill No. ____ or House Bill No. 4011 (request no.

 

00015'19 *) of the 100th Legislature is enacted into law.