Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson unveils new FOIA dashboard
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson unveiled a new dashboard designed to make the Freedom of Information Act Process smoother for her department and residents.
"This is a new online tool that our office has developed to ensure any citizen who would like access to public documents that have already been made available through a FOIA request are available to all citizens, and if they don't see the document they're looking for listed, they can submit a FOIA request for to gain access to it," said Benson.
The new dashboard places everything you need to search for documents or file Freedom of Information Act requests.
"Going into 2024, we want to ensure efficiency," Benson said. "We know a lot of people will be submitting document requests in an election year. And so we created this portal and launched it now to ensure the efficiency of those requests are dealt with."
The dashboard only covers document requests for the Secretary of State's department. However, Benson says she hopes to see it implemented for the state's other departments as well.
It's an effort that Kim Murphy-Kovalick, with Voters Not Politicians, also wants to see adopted elsewhere.
"We want people to be engaged in the civic process, and that includes understanding who is meeting with whom and the documents that people are signing. There's a lot of information that the public just doesn't see," she said. "If residents could pick this tool up as well, then that would make it easier for everyone to see how the sausage is made."
According to Benson's office, Michigan ranks low on the list of government transparency compared to other states. She said that this is one step towards improvement ahead of the 2024 election.
