I’m a journalist. I don’t do “fake news.” I ask questions and pursue information about things the public ought to know. That’s my job.

I didn’t expect to be sued for trying to do it.

My experience last summer is worth recounting as we observe Sunshine Week, designated by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to call attention to the importance of open government and the public’s right to know.

The Freedom of Information Act is an essential tool for protecting this right at the federal, state and local levels. FOIA laws have been improved over the years but, as I learned last year, we can do even better.

I work for The Daily News, the newspaper of record for Montcalm County in western Lower Michigan. Last year, the county undersheriff and a sheriff’s deputy, plus a sheriff’s employee from neighboring Ionia County, were candidates for sheriff of Montcalm. As part of informing voters about the election, I filed requests under FOIA for the personnel records of all these public employees. Ionia County promptly complied. Montcalm sued me for asking.

Montcalm County’s attorney told a judge the county was unsure it could comply with the FOIA request and worried about either being sued by The Daily News if the county denied it or being sued by the sheriff’s deputy in the race if the county released his complete personnel file.

The county’s lawyer said there was a conflict between FOIA and ERKA — the Employee Right to Know Act. While FOIA requires disclosure of all non-exempt documents, ERKA generally prohibits the release of disciplinary records that are more than four years old.

However, attorney Joseph Richotte of the Michigan Press Association, representing The Daily News, argued that while it was understandable that Montcalm County didn’t want to be sued, nothing in Michigan law authorizes a public body to file suit over a FOIA request.

Richotte explained that in enacting FOIA, the state Legislature allowed a requester to sue a public body that denies a FOIA request, and, if successful, to recover the cost of the suit. In effect, FOIA has a risk-reward provision — you can sue over a denial at your own expense, but then recover costs if you win in court.

By preemptively suing The Daily News, the county was in effect trying to prevent the newspaper from recovering its costs down the road in a FOIA lawsuit. That’s an important point, because if the county prevailed, any public body could presumably sue over a FOIA request instead of responding to it, an intimidating prospect for citizens attempting to exercise their rights under the law.

A judge dismissed the county’s case, ordering Montcalm to either approve or deny or approve in part or deny in part the FOIA request. The county, which spent $13,540 of taxpayer money to pursue its lawsuit, complied, providing me with the complete personnel files of the two candidates.

The Daily News was able to publish a detailed story about all three candidates — including four disciplinary items and two unpaid suspensions in the Montcalm deputy’s file — just before the election, which was won by the undersheriff.

As a result of the court case, which cost The Daily News $8,892 in legal fees, a bill was introduced in the Legislature last year to expressly prohibit a public body from suing someone over a FOIA request. The bill passed the state House by a 102-5 vote but died in the Senate. It has been reintroduced for the current session.

You wouldn’t think such a law would be necessary. But my experience says otherwise. I hope it is enacted and that the process starts an even wider conversation about the importance of transparency and accessibility in government bodies all across Michigan. Let the sunshine in so the people can see what’s going on.

Editor’s note: Elisabeth Waldon is the news editor of The Daily News in Greenville.