Written for the clerk who carries all of it.
Plain-language guides to public records law, open meetings law, and records retention in Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin, with the statute citations to back them up. No jargon, no fluff, and free templates where a template is what you actually need.
Michigan FOIA
Michigan FOIA deadlines, explained: respond vs. fulfill
Five business days, one 10-business-day extension, and the distinction that trips up public bodies: responding is not the same as fulfilling.
Michigan FOIA fees: the six components and how to calculate them
What MCL 15.234 actually lets you charge: labor categories, the fringe multiplier, the 10-cent page cap, deposits, and the mistakes that draw appeals.
A FOIA request log that actually protects you (free template)
What every request log needs to capture under Michigan FOIA, why the spreadsheet eventually breaks, and a free log template built for MCL 15.235 deadlines.
The FOIA procedures and guidelines every Michigan public body must publish
MCL 15.234 requires written procedures, guidelines, and a public summary. What must be in them, where they must appear, and how to get compliant this week.
The Michigan FOIA coordinator: who it is, what the law expects
Every Michigan public body has a FOIA coordinator by statute. What MCL 15.236 requires, what the job actually involves, and how new coordinators get up to speed.
Open Meetings
The 18-hour rule: special and rescheduled meeting notices in Michigan
Which meetings need 18 hours of posted notice under the Open Meetings Act, which ride the annual schedule, and where the notice physically has to be.
Michigan meeting minutes: the 8-day and 5-day rules, with a checklist
What the Open Meetings Act requires minutes to contain, the proposed-minutes and approved-minutes deadlines, and closed-session custody rules.
A city council agenda template that works (free download)
The agenda structure Michigan councils and township boards actually use, what the OMA does and does not require of agendas, and a free template.
How to write city council meeting minutes (free template)
What belongs in the minutes, what to leave out, roll-call vote formatting, and a free template aligned to Michigan Open Meetings Act requirements.
Records
How long do we keep meeting minutes in Michigan? Forever.
Approved open-meeting minutes are permanent records for every Michigan public body. The exact rules, quoted from the official DTMB schedules, with source links.
How long do we keep meeting recordings in Michigan? Shorter than you think.
The recording may be destroyed one day after the minutes are approved. The minutes, not the recording, are the permanent record. Rules quoted as printed.
How long do we keep closed-session minutes in Michigan? A year and a day.
Retained until approval of the regular-meeting minutes plus 1 year and 1 day, per MCL 15.267. The rule quoted from the official DTMB schedules.
How long do we keep FOIA request files in Michigan? One year.
One year after the response is sent or the request is denied, under the DTMB schedules. Not seven years, and not forever. Quoted as printed.
How long do we keep election ballots in Michigan? Depends what was on them.
22 months for federal-office ballots, 30 days for state and local, both from the Board of Canvassers final determination. Quoted from GS #23.
How long do we keep personnel files in Michigan local government?
Seven years after separation for most files, 50 years for pension-enrolled employees, one year for applicants not hired. Quoted from GS #26.
How long do we keep emails in Michigan local government?
Retention follows the content, not the medium: general correspondence 2 years, transitory messages 30 days, and substantive email carries its record's schedule.
How long do we keep bank statements in Michigan local government?
Seven years after the fiscal year ends, under GS #31 (Financial Records), which applies to every Michigan public body. Quoted as printed.
How long do we keep tax rolls in Michigan? Depends which treasurer you are.
Counties: 20 years then to the Archives. Cities and villages: 20 years then destroy. Townships: settlement with the county plus 7 years. Quoted from GS #27, #28, and #29.
How long do we keep building permits in Michigan?
Townships: life of the structure plus 7 years. Cities: the permit is permanent while the application clears in a year. Quoted from GS #10 and GS #8.
How we verify Michigan retention schedules, and the day that fixed the state's own PDF
Every retention rule in Dekree is checked line by line against the official DTMB schedules. In July 2026 that process caught a defective row in the published GS #29, and the state fixed it the next day.
Michigan records retention: GS #10, GS #24, GS #31, and when you may destroy a record
Which General Schedule actually applies to your office, what a retention period means, the only legal authority to destroy a record, and where FOIA intersects.
For clerks
What the new ADA website rules mean for Michigan cities and townships
The DOJ now requires local government web content to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The real deadlines (April 2027 and April 2028), the exemptions, and what a clerk should actually do, with sources.
The new Michigan clerk’s first 90 days: a compliance checklist
Taking over a clerk’s office mid-cycle: the statutory obligations that cannot wait, the records to locate first, and a printable 90-day checklist.
Spreadsheet vs. FOIA software: an honest breakdown for small governments
A spreadsheet is free and familiar. Here is exactly where it holds up, where it fails under Michigan FOIA, and how to know when it is time to switch.
Indiana APRA
Indiana's public records law just changed: HEA 1360, explained
Effective July 1, 2026: screening portals, new denial grounds for scraping and phishing, resident prioritization, an out-of-state fee, and new Public Access Counselor reporting duties. What a records office actually does differently.
Indiana APRA deadlines, explained: the two clocks
Indiana never sets a date the records are due. It defines when silence becomes a denial: 24 hours for walk-in and telephone requests, seven calendar days for written ones. How the clocks actually work, with citations.
What can an Indiana public agency charge for records? The APRA fee rules
What IC 5-14-3-8 actually allows: free inspection, no search or review labor charges, the local fee schedule requirement, direct cost for electronic media, and the new out-of-state fee.
Indiana Open Meetings
Indiana Open Door Law notice requirements: the 48-hour rule and everything around it
Forty-eight hours of posted notice before every meeting, weekends and holidays excluded. Where notice goes, the annual shortcut, executive-session notices, and the serial-meetings trap.
Indiana's meeting livestream law: who must stream, what you must keep, and for how long
Since July 1, 2025, most Indiana governing bodies must live stream meetings, archive the video linked to the agenda and memoranda, put the URL in the notice, and keep recordings at least 90 days.
Indiana meeting memoranda: what the Open Door Law actually requires (it is not minutes)
Indiana does not require minutes. It requires memoranda, kept as the meeting progresses, with five specific items, and treats minutes as optional. The checklist, plus executive-session certification.
Indiana Records
Indiana records retention, explained: the schedules, the commission, and when you may destroy a record
One statewide committee approves every schedule, the county commission implements them, and destroying a record outside the rules is a Level 6 felony. The full system, with the workflow and the citations.
How long do we keep meeting minutes in Indiana? Forever.
GEN 10-01 makes minutes permanent and critical for every Indiana local unit. The recording may go once minutes are approved, with one 90-day livestream wrinkle. Quoted from the official schedules.
How long do we keep building permits in Indiana?
Ten years after completion of the construction or the last renewal of the permit, whichever is sooner, under LAND 15-01. Government construction projects are the permanent exception. Quoted as printed.
How long do we keep election ballots in Indiana? 22 months.
Voted ballots are kept 22 months after the election under CL 23-01, matching the federal rule for federal offices. Unused ballots follow the recount-petition deadline. Quoted from the Clerk schedule.
How long do we keep emails in Indiana local government?
Retention follows the content, not the medium: routine correspondence 3 years under GEN 10-04, policy correspondence permanent under GEN 10-03, and substantive email carries its record's series.
How long do we keep personnel files in Indiana local government?
Ten years after separation AND after the permanent employment-log entry is verified, under GEN 10-27. Medical files 3 years, exposure records 35. Quoted from the official schedules.
How long do we keep APRA request files in Indiana? There is no dedicated series.
Indiana's schedules have no series for public records request files. We checked all of them. Requests ride the 3-year general-files bucket, fee records ride the 6-year revenue rule.
Wisconsin Records Law
Wisconsin has no records deadline. Here is the number DOJ holds you to.
The statute says "as soon as practicable and without delay." The DOJ benchmark says 10 working days for a simple request. Where delay turns into damages, with citations.
What can a Wisconsin authority charge for records? The fee rules
Actual, necessary and direct cost only. Location fees only at $50 or more, prepayment only over $5, no charge for redaction, and the 2024 law enforcement video carve-out.
Wisconsin has no exemption list. It has the balancing test
Denials rest on a case-by-case balancing test, and reviewing courts read only the reasons you actually wrote. How to write a denial that survives, with citations.
The posted records notice every Wisconsin authority must display (and most small offices never made)
Wis. Stat. 19.34 requires a prominently displayed notice naming your custodian, hours, and fees, plus the 48-hour and 2-hour-per-week access rules for offices without regular hours.
Wisconsin Open Meetings
Wisconsin's 24-hour meeting notice rule: the 2-hour floor and the Sundays that do not count
Twenty-four hours before every meeting, Sundays and holidays excluded from the count, a 2-hour good-cause floor, and the posting methods that satisfy the statute.
Open meetings violations in Wisconsin come out of your own pocket (and the city cannot pay you back)
$25 to $300 per violation, assessed personally against each member, with reimbursement barred by statute. The defenses, the walking-quorum trap, and the email-vote ban.
The Open Meetings Law's record rule never says minutes. Here is what Wisconsin actually requires
Motions and roll-call votes, recorded and preserved, in open and closed session alike. The real minutes duty lives in the clerk statutes. Both halves, with citations.
Closed sessions in Wisconsin: the procedure that keeps you legal
Convene open first, a recorded vote, the specific exemption announced out loud, the 12-hour reconvene rule, and the collective bargaining ratification ban.
Wisconsin Records
Wisconsin records retention: the 7-year default and the schedule most municipalities never adopted
The WMRS only applies if your board formally adopted it by ordinance. Without that, the statutory floor is 7 years. Plus the 60-day Historical Society notice, explained.
How long do we keep meeting recordings in Wisconsin? 90 days after approval.
A recording made to prepare minutes may be destroyed no sooner than 90 days after the minutes are approved and published, under Wis. Stat. 19.21(7). Quoted as printed.