Personal notes prepared and kept by a township trustee are not public records and are not subject to disclosure under FOIA
The Michigan Court of Appeals held recently that a township trustee’s personal notes, taken during township meetings but used for purely personal purposes and not shared with other township officials were not public records. Therefore, the township trustee’s personal notes were not subject to disclosure in response to a resident’s FOIA request for “copies of any notes taken by any elected official during any Duncan Township Board or Zoning meetings over the last 12 months.”
The township trustee routinely took notes in a personal diary, not only during township meetings, but during all activities, to help himself remember things. In response to a resident’s FOIA request, the township did not produce the trustee’s personal notes, based its determination that the trustee’s notes were not used during township meetings and were not used for preparation of the minutes. Thereafter, the resident brought suit against the Township for violation of FOIA. The Township’s defense was that the trustee’s notes were not public records and were not subject to disclosure under FOIA. The trial court granted the Township’s motion for summary disposition and the resident appealed.
Upon review, the Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s grant of summary disposition for the Township, finding that while the trustee took his notes during a township meeting, the trustee’s notes were not in furtherance of an official function. Instead, the trustee took his notes for his own personal use, the notes were not circulated among or discussed with the other township board members, were not used in preparation of the meeting minutes and were retained by the trustee at his sole discretion. The Court of Appeals found that in these circumstances, the trustee’s personal notes were not public records and were not subject to disclosure under FOIA.
Hopkins v Township of Duncan, 10/20/11, released for publication