How much would you pay for information? A student at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Michigan is facing an $84,000 bill for records he requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) related to an ongoing school investigation against him.
Carrie Uthe, the student’s mother, told local news station WZZM 13 earlier this year that the bill was surprising. “They did give us a documentation to show that breakdown, but that still made no sense,” said Uthe. “It’s been very stressful for him. It has really played on him hard. He just wants to go to school. He wants to do well. He wants to get an education.”
It’s not uncommon for FOIA requests to come with a fee, meant to compensate for employee time spent on complying with the request and redacting ineligible information. However, WZZM13 spoke with Mike Walsh, an attorney and adjunct professor at GVSU, who said that he’s never seen a FIOA bill this hefty.
“Government…
