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Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council

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Author: Larry Gallup

June: Bar lawmakers from destroying records

June 2, 2021June 2, 2021Larry Gallup

If you want to see all of the emails your mayor received and sent during the week of March 16-20, 2020, to find communications regarding the coronavirus outbreak, all you have to do is ask. Under state law, the mayor is required to retain these and provide them on request. If you want to see […]

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February: Officials’ behavior is reckless and illegal

February 1, 2021February 1, 2021Larry Gallup

To keep each other safe, we’ve been asked to add barriers  —  distance and masks  —  to our face-to-face interaction. We also have videoconferencing to help overcome those barriers. Yet to this day, Republican leaders in the state Assembly are holding meetings without requiring attendees to wear masks or offering a video option for those […]

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December: Don’t block anonymous requests

December 2, 2019December 2, 2019Larry Gallup

You can walk into City Hall asking to see records without ever having to give your name. You can mail or email an open records request to any public entity without giving any indication of who you are. You don’t even need to submit a written request. You can make the request orally and still […]

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February: Obey law on public employee records

February 1, 2019February 1, 2019Larry Gallup

The behavior of public employees on the job is subject to public scrutiny in nearly every circumstance under Wisconsin law. That means the public has a right to see disciplinary records of all employees. The right doesn’t just apply to the records of elected or appointed officials. It doesn’t just apply to managers or supervisors. […]

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August: Finalists’ names should be made public

August 1, 2018October 17, 2018Larry Gallup

When the Oconto Police and Fire Commission said in April that it had interviewed two finalists for the open position of chief of police, Kent Tempus of the Oconto County Reporter asked who the finalists were. It was a simple request, made under the part of Wisconsin’s open records law that requires the naming of […]

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May: Lawmakers abuse budget-fix motion

May 1, 2017January 24, 2018Larry Gallup

It’s been nearly two years since Republicans in the state Legislature tried to use a secretive, last-minute measure just before the July 4 holiday weekend to gut Wisconsin’s open records law . This effort, once publicized , was met with public outrage and abandoned . This was the most egregious but by no means only […]

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November: Bill would make it harder to follow the money

October 26, 2015January 24, 2018Larry Gallup

Follow the money. That’s one of the key lessons in politics, right? Follow the money and you’ll find answers. Follow the money and you’ll see who’s influencing whom. Follow the money and you’ll be able to connect special interest donors to the legislators whose votes can benefit them. But it might be about to get […]

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Recent Posts

  • January: Here’s to a more transparent 2023
  • December: Prehn records fight seeks accountability
  • November: Don’t pay too much for that photocopy!
  • October: AG candidates weigh in on transparency
  • September: Outsiders can’t block records access

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4 years ago
Wisconsin Supreme Court punts on John Doe records fight

It will be up to a Brown County circuit court judge to decide the fate of thousands of pages of evidence collected during the probe.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court is punting for now on an ongoing fight over records collected during the now-closed secret investigation into Gov. Scott Walker and Republican

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