FOIA Coordinator - Countywide

Countywide Foia Coordinator

Grand Traverse County is a team of passionate and incredible people who are committed to providing responsive, effective quality service to our up-north community. We strive to be a leader in innovative, effective, collaborative, and sustainable county government. We offer stable work environments and competitive salaries to both full-time and part-time employees. Understanding the many challenges facing today's professionals and families, we offer a competitive compensation package including an impressive list of benefits and time off.

The Countywide FOIA Coordinator serves as the County's central administrative coordinator for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) operations processed through County Administration and in accordance with applicable law, county FOIA procedures, and designated departmental responsibilities. Housed in County Administration, this position is responsible for countywide program administration designed to support consistent, compliant, and transparent public records practices across departments, including workflow governance, software administration, interdepartmental coordination, and operational reporting to the County Administrator.

This position supports, but does not replace, existing department staff and is intended to centralize administrative oversight, standardize countywide practices, resolve workflow issues, and manage a growing and increasingly complex FOIA compliance function.

This position has no direct supervisory authority over other county employees. The FOIA Coordinator provides functional leadership, guidance, and workflow direction to department FOIA coordinators and other staff involved in records request administration.

Records Request Intake and Routing

• Serve as the County's primary administrative intake and triage point for countywide FOIA requests submitted through the dedicated online portal and other channels, including evaluation of routing, complexity, and coordination needs.
• Route requests to the appropriate department(s) in compliance with Michigan FOIA statutes and established county procedures.
• Monitor and evaluate the FOIA software platform dashboard to maintain countywide operational visibility into open, pending, overdue, and closed requests and identify workflow issues, bottlenecks, and compliance risks requiring intervention.

Compliance and Deadline Management

• Track statutory response deadlines under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (MCL 15.231 et seq.), coordinate timely departmental input, and escalate compliance risks to appropriate leadership in accordance with county procedures.
• Assess request status and issue reminders, escalations, and operational directives to department staff when deadlines, record gathering, or review activities are approaching risk thresholds.
• Oversee maintenance of the administrative record for FOIA requests, responses, exemptions cited, fee determinations, and appeals, and use such records to support compliance analysis, reporting, and continuous process improvement.
• Maintain current expertise in Michigan FOIA requirements and related public records obligations; monitor legislative and regulatory developments, advise affected staff on operational impacts, and coordinate with county civil counsel as appropriate on legal updates and implementation.

Standards, Policies, and Procedures

• Administer, implement, and maintain countywide FOIA intake, fee assessment, redaction, and appeal practices in accordance with the County's written FOIA procedures, guidelines, and written public summary.
• Coordinate and document uniform County FOIA workflows and administrative practices, consistent with established county procedures and applicable law, to support consistent application across the Sheriff's Office, Prosecutor's Office, Health Department, IT Department, and other county departments.
• Coordinate legal review of complex or sensitive requests in collaboration with county civil counsel.

Foia Software Administration

• Serve as the primary system administrator for the County's FOIA management software platform.
• Design, configure, and maintain request forms, workflows, routing rules, redaction exemption codes, and reporting dashboards to support legally compliant and operationally efficient countywide FOIA administration.
• Coordinate with the IT Department on system updates, integrations (including Laserfiche), and technical support escalations.
• Maintain payment portal configuration and coordinate accurate invoicing, fee itemizations, and deposits for statutorily authorized FOIA charges in accordance with Michigan law and county FOIA procedures.

Redaction and Legal Coordination

• Review complex or sensitive records responsive to FOIA requests for appropriate redaction of exempt information under Michigan FOIA and provide recommendations regarding records handling and disclosure issues.
• Apply and document redaction exemption codes in the FOIA platform; generate exemption logs for each applicable request.
• Coordinate with the Prosecutor's Office and county counsel on legally sensitive requests, appeals, or potential litigation.
• Prepare, compile, and present FOIA appeal matters to the head of the public body or its designee(s), including the administrative record, supporting documentation, and written recommendations regarding the County's response, exemptions asserted, fee determinations, and proposed written appeal disposition, in accordance with applicable law and county FOIA procedures.

Training and Staff Support

• Provide onboarding and ongoing training to department staff on FOIA obligations, platform usage, and county procedures.
• Serve as the first point of contact for department FOIA coordinators with questions or workflow issues.

Reporting and Board Communication

• Prepare periodic reports and management briefings for the Board of Commissioners and County Administrator regarding FOIA request volume, compliance trends, fee activity, workflow performance, and significant operational issues.
• Provide data-driven analysis to support policy decisions, staffing assessments, and budget planning related to FOIA operations.
• Document and report on requests that fall outside routine departmental service functions for internal workload analysis and resource planning, as these currently represent a significant share of total volume.

Education, Formal Training, and Experience (minimum requirements)

• Bachelor's degree in public administration, political science, paralegal studies, records management, or a closely related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in records management, legal/paralegal work, government administration, compliance, or program coordination in a public sector environment.
• Demonstrated experience with FOIA or public records request processing preferred.
• Experience administering or working within a document or records management software system preferred.

Certifications, Licenses (minimum requirements)

• Notary Public

Conditions of Employment (minimumrequirements-legalorcontractualpre- employment obligationsand/orrequirements, suchas drugtesting,background check, etc.)

A background check shall be required initially and maybe periodically for an individual hired, transferred, reclassified, promoted, or currently working in this job. Appointment to or continued employment in this job is contingent upon a satisfactory background check which may include but is not limited to confirmation of a persons' identity; review of criminal conviction records; verification of educational degree, license, or certificate required for the position; review of Department of Motor Vehicles records; Department of Justice fingerprint scan; and/or drug and alcohol testing as required and allowable by law. A satisfactory background check is defined as the absence of a criminal history record which bears a demonstrable relationship to the applicant's or employee's suitability to perform the required duties and responsibilities of the position.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Employees receive moderate supervision and work involves carrying out duties according to standard practice or general instructions with continuous and direct control. Errors could cause serious, but short-term consequences involving significant financial impact or cost, reduced service to the public, and/or strong negative citizen reaction and may require intervention from a higher-level manager and could affect others outside of a department therefore, attention to detail, thoroughness and integrity are desired characteristics.

Physical Demands, Work Environment, and Other Requirements

The work is generally performed in an office environment. Typically, the employee may sit to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, stooping, carrying of light items such as papers, books, or small parts, or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions. Use of safe work practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Competencies (minimum requirements)

• Working knowledge of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (MCL 15.231 et seq.) and related state and federal public records laws.
• Ability to interpret and apply legal requirements, exemptions, and appeal processes in a practical government context.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage a high volume of concurrent requests and competing deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to communicate professionally with the public, elected officials, department heads, and legal counsel.
• Proficiency with cloud-based case management or records management software; ability to learn and administer the County's software platform.
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