Judge dismisses records lawsuit against Village of Holly brought by village president candidate

An Oakland County Circuit Court judge has dismissed a public records lawsuit that Holly resident Anna Matson filed against the Village of Holly, the Tri-County Times reported Sunday.

Judge Yasmine I. Poles dismissed the case on Oct. 7, according to the Times. The suit centered on a Freedom of Information Act request Matson made to the village.

The Times' full report is behind a paywall, and the Journal has not seen the judge's order. As of Monday night, the Journal could not confirm the court's reasoning, whether either side was ordered to pay costs or legal fees, or whether Matson plans to appeal.

Running for village president

Matson is one of two candidates for Holly village president on the Nov. 3 ballot, according to the Oakland County Clerk's official candidate list. The other is April Brandon, the current council president.

How the case started

Matson filed the state lawsuit on Oct. 3, 2025, the Tri-County Times' sister paper, the Genesee County View, reported in February. Her 2025 requests sought:

• documents on the village's water and sewer bonds
• communications among village officials from 2023 to June 2025, including the current and former village managers, the village attorney and the current and former village clerks

Matson disputed the fees the village charged, according to the View:

• $374.20 for copies of the communications
• $25 for a flash drive, which the village later agreed should have cost $5

She also said the village demanded a full deposit up front, more than she believed the law allows. She called that retaliation, the View reported.

The village said it had not denied her request and was waiting for payment. It said it had received an unusually large number of broad and repetitive requests, and that state law lets it recover the cost of answering them. Earlier councils had settled similar disputes, the village said, but this council decided "seeking judicial guidance is necessary to protect limited public resources."

The village received 68 records requests in 2025, according to the View. Matson sued the village over a records request once before, in 2023. That case ended in a $15,639.50 settlement paid to her lawyers' firm; Matson told the View she did not profit from it.

A separate federal case

In February, Matson also sued the village and seven council members, including Brandon, in federal court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Hoodline reported, citing the Oakland Press. That suit alleges retaliation for her records requests, First Amendment violations and two Open Meetings Act violations. Matson says the village withdrew a settlement offer in the state case in mid-January after she filed another records request.

The Journal could not determine Monday whether the Oct. 7 ruling affects the federal case. In February, a litigation attorney and Village Manager Timothy Price both declined to comment on the pending state case, the View reported.

This story uses reporting from the Tri-County Times, the Genesee County View, Hoodline and the Oakland County Clerk's official candidate list.