FOIA and Public Records
Axcess1 Michigan
FOIA and Public Records management, built around Michigan FOIA
Built around your law — not around generic case management.
Audio and video redaction, by hand and with AI
Blur faces, plates, screens and text, mute or bleep what is said, and every copy checked before release. The officer decides.
Built around your law — not around generic case management
Many case-management products ask a public body to adapt its process to the software. Axcess1 is configured around the legislation, the procedures, the vocabulary and the reporting obligations of each jurisdiction. An organization chooses its Act once; every screen, deadline, letter and report then follows it.
Generic case management
The organization adapts to the software.
Axcess1
The software follows the legislation and the way government works.
Legislation supported
Michigan Freedom of Information Act (MCL 15.231 et seq. (1976 PA 442))
| What the Act requires | As configured in Axcess1 |
|---|---|
| Who it applies to | "Public body" in MCL 15.232: state officers, departments and agencies (not the governor's or lieutenant governor's office, nor the legislature), counties, cities, townships, villages, school districts, authorities and bodies created or primarily funded by state or local authority. The judiciary is not a public body. |
| Time limit to respond | 5 working days (MCL 15.235(2)). The due date is calculated when the request is entered, with the holidays of the jurisdiction. |
| Extensions | Up to 10 working days. One written notice may extend the response period by not more than 10 business days; it states the reasons and the date by which the body will respond. A second extension for the same request is not allowed. The requester may agree in writing to a different period. (MCL 15.235(2)(d)) |
| No answer in time | Treated as a refusal (MCL 15.235(3) (failure to respond is a final determination to deny)); overdue requests are flagged. |
| Third parties | The Act sets no formal notice; consultations are recorded and tracked on the request. |
| Transfer to another body | MCL 15.235(5)(b) (certificate that the record does not exist under the name given or another name reasonably known), within 5 days |
| Decision and reasons | The decision letter gives the reasons, the provision relied on and the right of review (MCL 15.235(5) (statutory basis of each exemption, description of separated material, right to appeal or sue, signed by the person responsible)). |
| Fees | No application fee. Amounts in U.S. dollars (USD). Fees are limited to labor for searching, locating, examining and separating exempt material, at the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee capable of the work, plus actual mailing and copying costs (not more than $0.10 per sheet for standard paper). A detailed itemization is required; a deposit of up to half the estimate may be required when the fee is expected to exceed $50. |
| Review and complaints | the head of the public body (written appeal), then the circuit court (MCL 15.240); 180 days to ask for a review (MCL 15.240(1)) |
Loaded for this Act
- 23 provisions (exemptions, exceptions and exclusions) ready to cite on a redaction, each with its section number.
- Request types: Michigan FOIA request (MCL 15.235).
- Statutory steps on the timeline: Notice extending the response period, MCL 15.235(2)(d) (not more than 10 business days; only once); Good-faith deposit requested — estimated fee over $50, MCL 15.234(8); Certificate that the record does not exist under the name given or another name reasonably known, MCL 15.235(5)(b); Written appeal to the head of the public body received, MCL 15.240(1)(a) (answer within 10 business days); Appeal decision extended once by not more than 10 business days for unusual circumstances, MCL 15.240(2); Civil action in circuit court to compel disclosure, MCL 15.240(1)(b) (within 180 days).
Checked against the published text on 2026-10-28. Michigan Legislature — MCL 15.243, Exemptions from disclosure · Michigan Legislature — MCL 15.235, Request to inspect or receive copy; response; extension; denial notice; appeal · Michigan Legislature — Freedom of Information Act, 1976 PA 442 (MCL 15.231 to 15.246)
Legislation-to-feature matrix
| Legislative requirement | Axcess1 support |
|---|---|
| Statutory deadline | 5 working days (MCL 15.235(2)): calculated automatically for each request; overdue and upcoming requests on the dashboard. |
| Extensions and holds | Recorded as events that move the due date, each tied to its section of the Act. |
| Exemptions and exclusions | The provisions of Michigan FOIA in the redaction editor, each with its section number. |
| Third parties and consultations | Notices, consultation packages and their due dates tracked on the request. |
| Fees | Fee notices and payments recorded on the request. |
| Reviews, appeals and complaints | Recorded on the request timeline with their dates and outcome. |
| Redaction | Done by the analyst in the built-in editor; optional AI suggestions that the analyst accepts or rejects. |
| Decision letters | Generated from templates for this Act, with the provisions cited. |
| Release | A release package built from the reviewed records; redactions are permanent in the released file. |
| Annual statistics | Annual access statistics for the period, with each figure traceable to its requests. |
| Audit trail | Every action on a request is recorded with the user and the time. |
From request to release
1Receive and validate
The request is entered with its type, requester and date received; a number is issued from your own numbering pattern.
2Calculate the deadline
The due date follows the Act: 5 working days (MCL 15.235(2)). Holds and extensions move it and are recorded.
3Assign and search
The request is assigned to an officer; the units holding records are tasked and their answers tracked.
4Collect and review
Records are uploaded (PDF, Office files, scans with text recognition) and reviewed page by page.
5Apply the provisions and redact
The analyst marks a passage and picks the provision of this Act; the released copy shows the section relied on.
6Consult
Consultation packages are produced per party, with their due dates.
7Approve
The response goes to the approver's inbox for review and signature.
8Release
The release package and the decision letter are generated from the request.
9Report
Requests, processing times, decisions and provisions invoked are counted for the period you choose.
Agentic AI across the lifecycle
AI is switched off until your administrator turns it on, one capability at a time. AI assists. Authorized officials decide.
Intake agent
Proposes a new request from a message, the portal or a drop folder; an officer confirms it.
Document intelligence
Summarizes and classifies the records and finds the people and organizations named in them.
Responsiveness agent
Suggests which records answer the request.
Exemption assist
Proposes provisions of Michigan FOIA with reasons; redaction candidates appear in the editor.
Consultation agent
Suggests who should be consulted and on which pages.
Quality assurance agent
Checks a package a second time before release.
Deadline watch
Lists the requests at risk of running late.
Copilot
Answers questions about a request, citing the records it used.
Audio and video, redacted and checked
Picture and sound together
Blur or black out part of the picture and mute or bleep what is said at the same moment, each redaction tied to the provision of your Act.
Faces, licence plates, screens and text
Found on the server that runs Axcess1 (yours, or ours in Canada), with no outside AI service, and followed as they move. An authorized official accepts or rejects every find.
Checked before release
Each redacted copy is compared with the original, box by box and passage by passage. A copy that fails is not released; the original is never changed.
Migration
Case history, requesters and documents are brought over from the system you use today, so you do not start from an empty database.
Deployment
Hosted by SoftSim in Canada, on your own private cloud or servers, or standalone on a PC or Mac.
Security
Each organization's records are separate, access is controlled by role and every action is recorded. Run on your own servers, your records never leave your premises.
See Axcess1 working with your own Act
A 30-minute demonstration, with your legislation and your workflow.
Jurisdictions
Find Axcess1 for your jurisdiction
Canada
United Kingdom
Ireland
France
Australia
New Zealand
Axcess1 supports configurable workflows designed around the applicable legislation. Government organizations remain responsible for legal interpretation and statutory decisions. Summaries of the legislation are paraphrases prepared from the published text; they are not legal advice.