Michigan’s body-worn camera privacy act: keep evidentiary video 30 days and complaint video 3 years

Michigan’s Law Enforcement Body-Worn Camera Privacy Act exempts recordings made in private places from FOIA except for listed requesters, and requires agencies to keep evidentiary recordings at least 30 days, recordings tied to open investigations or cases until they end, and complaint-related recordings at least 3 years.

Source facts

Michigan’s Law Enforcement Body-Worn Camera Privacy Act (2017 PA 85, effective January 8, 2018) requires a law enforcement agency to retain an evidentiary body-worn camera recording for not less than 30 days, to keep recordings that are the subject of an ongoing criminal or internal investigation, prosecution or civil action until it is complete, and to keep recordings relevant to a formal complaint against an officer or agency for at least 3 years.

The definitions describe an evidentiary recording as one of an incident or encounter, such as a crime, arrest, citation, search, use of force or confrontational encounter, that may be materially useful for investigative or prosecutorial purposes, and define a private place as one where a person may reasonably expect to be safe from casual or hostile intrusion or surveillance, excluding places the public can access.

Recordings made in a private place are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (MCL 780.313), but the subject, a person whose property was seized or damaged in a related crime, a minor subject’s parent, a legal guardian or an attorney may request a copy (MCL 780.314). Recordings kept for an ongoing criminal or internal investigation are exempt to the extent disclosure would, for example, interfere with proceedings or invade privacy (MCL 780.315), and the act creates no presumption about what a recording would have shown if the agency cannot produce it because of technical failure or human error.

Applicability

Use this for Michigan law enforcement agencies and their vendors. Crime victims’ rights protections and other FOIA exemptions also apply; disclosure decisions belong to the agency and its counsel.

DSE recommendation

DSE recommends configuring body-worn camera storage so retention follows the act’s 30-day, investigation-hold and 3-year complaint rules, with holds that cannot expire automatically. Tag evidentiary recordings at upload, let records staff place and release holds with an audit trail, and alert on upload failures and on any held recording nearing deletion.

Verification

Each quarter, sample recordings by category to confirm retention dates and holds, compare deletion logs with open complaints and cases, and test restoring a recording from backup.

Official references

Michigan Legislature — MCL 780.316, Law Enforcement Body-Worn Camera Privacy Act. Michigan Legislature — MCL 780.312, Definitions. Michigan Legislature — MCL 780.313, Disclosure; FOIA exemption. Michigan Legislature — MCL 780.314, Individuals requesting copy. Michigan Legislature — MCL 780.315, Recordings in ongoing investigations. Reviewed October 19, 2026.