We Filed Our First Public Records Request With Gratiot County: What We Asked For, What Happens Next and What It Could Cost

GRATIOT COUNTY — On Thursday, Oct. 29, Gratiot County Whistleblower filed its first public records request with Gratiot County under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. It is a long one: 19 numbered items in five parts, covering the county’s insurance records on Animal Control firearms, county emails about this publication, grievances, the county administrator’s contract and opioid settlement grants. The full request is published below. We are waiting for the county’s answer, and we will publish whatever comes back: a confirmation, an extension, a fee estimate, a full or partial denial, or the records themselves.

Who sent it, and to whom

The request was emailed to the county’s official records address, foia@gratiotmi.com (county FOIA page), addressed to Timothy Dolehanty, the county administrator, who is also the county’s FOIA coordinator.

It was sent by our volunteer public representative, in her own name, with her mailing address, email and phone number. At the Oct. 6 board meeting the administrator said he had told county departments that anonymous requests need not be answered (recording, about 6:55). The county’s approved minutes of that meeting say: “GC Whistle Blower.com was asking questions, and Tim is not going to respond unless they identify themselves” (minutes). Michigan law does not require anyone to identify themselves or give a reason for asking. A named requester takes that reason off the table. The county has her name; we are not publishing it.

What we asked for

• Part A, Animal Control and the county’s insurer (10 items). On Oct. 20 the board voted 5–0 to end Animal Control officers’ firearms authorization. The administrator said the county’s insurer, the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, had added a charge of about $95,000 a year, plus about $8,000 a year in workers’ compensation, after an Oct. 12 meeting (Oct. 20 recording). No insurer paperwork was posted with the agenda. We asked for the insurer’s notices, invoices and correspondence, the Oct. 12 meeting records, any talks since about lowering the charge, the firearms policies and the signed Oct. 20 resolution.
• Part B, emails about this website (4 items). The email the administrator described sending to “all of our departments,” the board chair’s Oct. 6 email to him about our request, other county emails that mention this publication, and the county’s media policy.
• Part C, grievances (3 items). Every grievance, formal complaint and unfair labor practice charge the county has received that is still open, plus everything received since Jan. 1, 2025, with the county’s responses, and any notice to a union about changes to Animal Control officers’ equipment, firearms, reporting line, pay grade or duties. We told the county to leave out home addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and medical information.
• Part D, the administrator’s employment contract and any amendments.
• Part E, the list of round-one opioid settlement grant recipients and amounts.

We asked the county to release each part as soon as it is ready instead of holding everything for the slowest part.

How FOIA works

Anyone can ask. Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (MCL 15.231 and following) lets any person request public records, with no reason, residency or identification required. A public record is anything a public body prepares, owns, uses or keeps in doing its official work, including emails and text messages, even on a personal phone or account when they concern public business.

The clock. An emailed request counts as received one business day after it is sent. The county then has five business days to respond. It can grant the request, deny it, grant part and deny part, or send one notice extending the deadline by up to 10 more business days (county procedures). For this request:

• Sent: Thursday, Oct. 29
• Counts as received: Friday, Oct. 30
• County’s answer due: Friday, Nov. 6
• Latest date with one extension: about Friday, Nov. 20 (Monday, Nov. 23 if county offices close for Veterans Day)

Where it stands. As of Tuesday, Nov. 3, the county had not responded. That is not late: its answer is due Friday, Nov. 6. We will report what arrives, or that nothing did.

Silence counts as a denial. Our request has “FOIA” in its subject line and states the request within its first 250 words. Under the law, that makes a failure to respond on time a denial we can appeal.

A denial has to explain itself. The county must name the specific exemption for anything it withholds and release the rest.

If the answer is no. A requester can appeal in writing to the Board of Commissioners, or go to circuit court within 180 days. In court the county has to justify the denial. A requester who wins is awarded attorney fees, and if a judge finds the county acted arbitrarily and capriciously, the law adds a $1,000 civil fine and $1,000 in punitive damages.

What it could cost

The county may charge for records, within limits set by state law (MCL 15.234) and its own published rules (county public summary):

• Labor: the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee able to do the work, in 15-minute blocks with partial blocks rounded down, plus up to 50% for fringe benefits if the county states the percentage.
• Search and review time: chargeable only if not charging would cause “unreasonably high costs,” which the county must specifically identify.
• Copies: no more than 10 cents a sheet on paper. Records sent by email cost nothing to copy.
• Outside help: the county’s procedures list $48.90 an hour for contract labor, such as an outside attorney reviewing records for redaction.
• Deposits: if the estimate is over $50, the county may ask for up to half in advance. A deposit not paid within 45 days means the request is treated as abandoned.
• Late answers: if the county misses its deadline, its labor charge drops 5% for each late day, up to 50%.
• Hardship: a requester who signs an affidavit of indigence has the first $20 waived.

We authorized up to $750 for the whole request and asked for an itemized estimate, broken out by part, before any charge over $25. Parts D and E should cost little or nothing; most of any cost would come from the email searches in Parts A and B.

What we expect

• A confirmation that the county received the request.
• A fee estimate, and possibly a deposit request.
• Possibly one extension notice, which the law allows.
• Parts D and E first, since they are single, well-defined records.
• Some redactions, each of which should cite an exemption.

What we do not expect

• Everything at once.
• Personal details in the grievance records; we asked for them to be removed.
• A quick answer on the department-wide email. The administrator described it on the county’s own recording, and he is also the official who decides this request.

What we do not know yet

We do not know when the county will answer, what it will charge, whether it will extend the deadline or what it will withhold. We will update this report as each response arrives.

The request as sent

Sent Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, by Gratiot County Whistleblower’s volunteer public representative to foia@gratiotmi.com, addressed to Timothy Dolehanty, FOIA Coordinator. The requester’s name and contact information are withheld.

Dear Timothy Dolehanty, FOIA Coordinator:

Under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, MCL 15.231 et seq., I request copies of the following public records, in electronic form. This request has five parts, A to E. The period for Part A is January 1, 2025 through the date this request is processed, except where a different period is stated. The period for Part B is August 1, 2026 through the date this request is processed, except where a different period is stated. Part C covers grievances the county has received. Parts D and E are described below.

PART A: records exchanged with the county's liability insurer about Animal Control firearms

A1. All communications (letters, emails, text messages, messages on any other platform, meeting invitations, and notes or summaries of calls or meetings) sent to or received from the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA), or from any insurance agency, agent, broker or underwriter acting for any county liability, property or workers' compensation coverage, concerning Animal Control officers carrying, or having access to, firearms, including sidearms and firearms kept in county vehicles.

A2. All insurance quotes, proposals, endorsements, endorsement requests, rate or premium changes, underwriting notes or questionnaires, loss-control or risk-control reports, and coverage determinations sent to or received from those entities on that subject, including the endorsement or notice dated on or about October 15, 2026 adding coverage or premium related to Animal Control officers, any endorsement adding about $95,000 a year to the county's coverage, and any related workers' compensation charge of about $8,000 a year.

A3. All records of the meeting on or about October 12, 2026 between county officials and MMRMA representatives on that subject: invitations, agenda, attendee list, any presentation or document handed out, notes, and follow-up messages.

A4. All communications since October 20, 2026 with those entities about reducing, removing, cancelling or waiving that endorsement, or about the county's change to Animal Control firearm authorization.

A5. All communications in 2025 with those entities about moving Animal Control to the Sheriff's Office, or about sidearm carriage by Animal Control officers.

A6. All invoices, premium notices and billing statements for the endorsement described in A2.

A7. The county's coverage applications, renewal applications and underwriting questionnaires submitted to the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA) for coverage years 2025 and 2026.

A8. All other correspondence between the county and MMRMA concerning Animal Control, from March 1, 2025 to the present, whether or not it mentions firearms.

A9. Any Sheriff's Office or county policy, order or directive authorizing Animal Control officers to carry or access firearms or to respond to law enforcement calls, from March 2025 to the present, and any policy, order or directive rescinding or changing that authorization.

A10. The adopted, signed text of each Animal Control resolution approved on October 20, 2026, with the resolution number the clerk assigned to it.

PART B: the email to county departments, and records about a website

B1. The email that the County Administrator described, at the October 6, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting (county recording, about 6:55 to 8:50), as an email he "copied" to "all of our departments" suggesting that an anonymous request need not be answered: the email in full, with its date and time, sender, every recipient, any attachments, and every reply and forwarded copy. Also any other email, memorandum, text message or other writing directing, instructing, asking, advising or reminding any county department head, elected official or employee, individually or as a group, whether or how to speak to, respond to, or route questions or messages from "Gratiot County Whistleblower," "GCW," "gcwhistleblower," or "gcwhistleblower.com," or from anonymous requesters or the media generally.

B2. The email sent to the County Administrator by the Board of Commissioners chair on or about October 6, 2026 (described at the same meeting as received "earlier today") concerning a request from gcwhistleblower.com, with every attachment, reply and forward. Also all other emails, text messages, messages on any other platform, memoranda and notes, sent or received by the County Administrator, the Deputy Administrator, any county commissioner or any county department head, that refer to "Gratiot County Whistleblower," "GC Whistleblower," "GC Whistle Blower," "GCW" (as the name of that website), "gcwhistleblower," or "gcwhistleblower.com." This includes any forwarded copy of an email sent to a county department by that website on or about September 17, 2026, the Administrator's reply to it, and any discussion of either.
B3. All notes, minutes, summaries, agendas and recordings of any meeting, including department-head, staff and Board of Commissioners meetings, at which that website, its questions, or whether staff may answer it was discussed. This includes the Administrator's written report, notes or talking points for the October 6, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting, whose approved minutes state: "GC Whistle Blower.com was asking questions, and Tim is not going to respond unless they identify themselves."

B4. Any written policy, directive or guideline in effect at any time since January 1, 2025, on who may speak to the media or the public on behalf of the county or its departments, including Policy 114 (Media Communications Officer Policy, 2013) and any amendment, replacement or draft.

PART C: grievances

C1. A list of every grievance, formal complaint and unfair labor practice charge that Gratiot County has received, from any source (employees, unions, residents, vendors or anyone else), against the county, its Board of Commissioners, its County Administrator, or any county department or official. This covers every one that is open or unresolved on the date this request is processed, regardless of when it was received, and every other one received since January 1, 2025, whether open or closed. It includes any grievance log or tracking list the county keeps, showing for each: the date received, the department, the contract article or policy cited, the current step, and the date of any hearing or arbitration.

C2. Copies of each grievance, complaint or charge listed in C1, together with the county's written responses at every step, any settlement or resolution proposal, and any correspondence with the union, the Michigan Employment Relations Commission, or an arbitrator about it.

C3. Any written notice to a union or employee group since August 1, 2026 about a change to Animal Control officers' equipment, firearm authorization, reporting line, pay grade or duties, and any written demand to bargain or response about such a change.

I do not need home addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, or medical information. Please redact them if they appear and release the rest.

PART D: the County Administrator's contract

D1. The employment contract for County Administrator Timothy Dolehanty, including any amendments, addenda or extensions.

PART E: opioid settlement money

E1. Records listing the round-one opioid settlement grant recipients and the award amounts.
GENERAL

Please include attachments. This request covers records on any county account or device, including a personal account or device, if it was used in the performance of an official function.
Because the five parts concern different records, please release the records for each part as they are located and reviewed, and do not hold one part until another is complete. If one part will take longer, please say so and release the others.

If you determine that any part is exempt, please release the rest and state the specific exemption for each redaction, as MCL 15.244 and 15.235(5) require.
Please send the records electronically to this email address. If fees will exceed $25, please send an itemized estimate before processing. I am willing to pay reasonable fees up to $750 for this request as a whole. Please itemize the fee detail the statute requires (MCL 15.234) separately for each of Parts A to E, and send it before you charge more than that, and tell me how to pay any deposit. Please confirm receipt of this request.

I am a Gratiot County resident and an authorized public representative of Gratiot County Whistleblower. Because the county has stated it will not respond to questions from anonymous persons, I am making this request in my own name on the publication's behalf.

Thank you,
[Name and contact information withheld by Gratiot County Whistleblower]

Corrections and responses are welcome.