Circuit Court Judge orders Kent County Sheriff's Department to release of incident report in Freedom of Information case
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A Circuit Court judge signed an order Nov. 19, 2014, granting summary disposition to a plaintiff seeking the release of an incident report from the Kent County Sheriff's Department.
The plaintiff, Alan Blanchard, professional investigator and president of Sentinel Investigations, LLC, www.sentinelinvestigations.net - sought the release of the incident report, which the Sheriff's Department had previously released to Blanchard but with sections redacted.
The judge's order required the Sheriff's Department to release the report minus redactions made by the department to portions of narrative portions of the report.
8th Circuit Court Judge David A. Hoort, also ordered the defendant, Kent County, to pay $500 in punitive damages to Blanchard and to pay attorney's fees to Blanchard's legal counsel, Miel & Carr - www.mielcarr.com
Blanchard said, "I am very pleased with the court's ruling here. The State of Michigan's laws on Freedom of Information (FOIA) are based on the notion that public information, as a rule, should be freely open to the public. Law enforcement officers, while perhaps well-intentioned, at times withhold or limit rather than fully disclose information when they receive FOIA requests. That's one of the reasons why Sentinel Investigations offers its clients expert assistance when seeking public information such as police reports under the state's FOIA law. We vigorously advocate for our clients, working for their access to public information."
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A Circuit Court judge signed an order Nov. 19, 2014, granting summary disposition to a plaintiff seeking the release of an incident report from the Kent County Sheriff's Department.
The plaintiff, Alan Blanchard, professional investigator and president of Sentinel Investigations, LLC, www.sentinelinvestigations.net - sought the release of the incident report, which the Sheriff's Department had previously released to Blanchard but with sections redacted.
The judge's order required the Sheriff's Department to release the report minus redactions made by the department to portions of narrative portions of the report.
8th Circuit Court Judge David A. Hoort, also ordered the defendant, Kent County, to pay $500 in punitive damages to Blanchard and to pay attorney's fees to Blanchard's legal counsel, Miel & Carr - www.mielcarr.com
Blanchard said, "I am very pleased with the court's ruling here. The State of Michigan's laws on Freedom of Information (FOIA) are based on the notion that public information, as a rule, should be freely open to the public. Law enforcement officers, while perhaps well-intentioned, at times withhold or limit rather than fully disclose information when they receive FOIA requests. That's one of the reasons why Sentinel Investigations offers its clients expert assistance when seeking public information such as police reports under the state's FOIA law. We vigorously advocate for our clients, working for their access to public information."
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