A Midland resident has sued Midland Public Schools over charges associated with record requests, according to a lawsuit filed on July 2, 2024.

Renita Bonadies has paid more than $1,000 for public school records over four years, including meeting agendas that schools typically distribute for free, she told Michigan Capitol Confidential in a Zoom interview.

Bonadies asked the district for six months of meeting agendas. The district billed her $114.68 on Dec. 14, 2023, but a June 12, 2024, response raised the cost to $305.62.

The fee increase was meant to stop her from getting public documents, Bondadies told CapCon.

She’s attended school board meetings for almost four years and also frequently attends county commission meetings. Bonadies moved to Midland 13 years ago.

“Our hill to die on is to hold public servants accountable for what they were elected to do,” Bondadies said.

Midland Public Schools doesn’t comment on pending litigation, district spokesperson Katie Guyer told CapCon in an email.

Bonadies has no children currently attending the school, but her parents were schoolteachers.

The school isn’t being transparent with record requests, Bonadies said. She believes the school is withholding an email about her, she said.

“How honest are they when they give us FOIA results, and what is it the public can do about what’s going on?” Bondadies said.

The lawsuit filed in the 42nd Circuit Court for Midland County is in the discovery process now, according to Thomas J. Lambert, an attorney representing Bondadies.

“If public bodies charge a fee, any fee, a dollar, it increases the likelihood that the request will be abandoned,” Lambert said in a Zoom interview.

The parties could either settle the case or take it to trial.

The lawsuit asks the court to award Bondadies attorney’s fees and to order the district to process the record request.

Michiganders who aren’t incarcerated can file record requests with local and state governments to review public documents. Some agencies charge a fee to find and redact sensitive information in the documents. Typically, agencies charge about $1 per page. CapCon filed more than 150 record requests in 2024 to break stories. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that certain public school curricula can stay hidden from parents, CapCon reported.

The Michigan State Police tested 12 vehicles before picking a 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD for the State Security Operations Section’s first electric vehicle.

The state will pay $1,062 monthly to lease the vehicle, records obtained by Michigan Capitol Confidential show.

The vehicle reached a speed of 100 miles per hour in 10.87 seconds during a test run at the Chelsea Proving Grounds on Sept. 16, 2023, according to the MSP’s 102-page testing records. The vehicle will be used by state properties security officers, who provide armed security coverage for state properties, including the Capitol and the governor's mansion.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to research, in real time, how a battery electric vehicle performs on patrol,” MSP Director Col. James F. Grady II said in a January statement. “Our state properties security officers patrol a substantially smaller number of miles per day than our troopers and motor carrier officers, within city limits and at lower speeds, coupled with the availability of charging infrastructure in downtown Lansing, making this the ideal environment to test the capabilities of a police-package battery electric vehicle.”

The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for this vehicle starts at $42,000. The Mustang Mach-E AWD has a range of 264 miles, according to Edmunds, which rated the vehicle an 8.2 out of 10. State police vehicles typically accelerate from 0 – 60 mph in 9 seconds, 0 – 80 mph in 14.9 seconds, and 0 – 100 mph in 24.6 seconds.

“The vehicle must reach 110 mph in 0.92 mile and 120 mph in 1.70 miles,” testing documents said.

The vehicle is stored in Lansing.

The 12 vehicles tested were: Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD; Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L 4WD; Chevrolet Silverado Z7X 4WD; Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4WD; Chevrolet Blazer EV AWD; Dodge Durango 5.7L AWD; Dodge Durango 3.6L AWD; Ford Police Interceptor Utility 3.0L EcoBoost AWD; Ford Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid AWD; Ford Police Interceptor Utility 3.3L AWD; Ford F150 Police Responder 3.5L EcoBoost; Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD.

State police have 2,305 vehicles, according to the 2023 fleet plan. There are about 1,326 SUVs, 685 coupes and sedans, 144 vans, 91 pickups, 32 service, delivery, or tow trucks, 25 motorcycles, one bus, and one ATV or snowmobile.

Historically, the state police have driven vehicles fueled by gasoline or diesel. But the law enforcement agency is starting to use electric vehicles, partly under a push to make state agencies adopt 14,000 EVs by 2040. Overall, Michigan is 2.3% toward its goal of reaching 2 million EVs registered statewide by 2030.

Michigan state agencies have 30 electric vehicles.

A sparse charging network, range anxiety, and a high upfront cost have resulted in weak demand for electric vehicles, CapCon has reported. About 50,000 electric vehicles are registered in Michigan, according to the federal government, compared to more than 6.8 million gas and diesel vehicles.