Court Opinion

ID: 9740799
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:41:52.428815+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:20.320694
License: Public Domain

M. E. Dodge, J.
(dissenting in part). I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which concludes that the trial judge abused his discretion in failing to award plaintiff his actual costs.
MCL 15.248(4); MSA 4.1801(10X4) provides:
(4) If a person asserting the right to inspect or to receive a copy of a public record or a portion thereof prevails in an action commenced pursuant to this section, the court shall award reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and disbursements. If the person prevails in part, the court may in its discretion award reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and disbursement or an appropriate portion thereof. The award shall be assessed against the public body liable for damages under subsection (5).
This Court has previously recognized that a plaintiff in an foia action must "prevail” in the action to be entitled to a mandatory award of costs and fees; if he or she prevailed "in part,” the award is discretionary. Walloon Lake Water System, Inc v Melrose Twp, 163 Mich App 726; 415 NW2d 292 (1987).
In view of the fact that this defendant prevailed *80"in part” and considering the lack of entitlement to attorney fees for pro per representation, I find no abuse of discretion by the trial judge. On the contrary, I find the trial court’s award of "the cost of copying and furnishing to plaintiff the material” to be an appropriate apportionment of costs and disbursements. Therefore, I conclude there has been a proper exercise of discretion thereby eliminating need for a remand under these circumstances.