Category: Open government in the news

Dear Council members and supporters, This is to make you aware of developments regarding access to online court records, especially an open rules conference this morning (May 12) before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The court voted 5-2 to dismiss a rules petition from the State Bar of Wisconsin from 2009. But it did so with […]

From WLUK Fox 11 in Green Bay, a report on the trend of redacting information on police reports.  

From the Chippewa Herald, an editorial on the proposed bill to allow records custodians to charge for the cost of reviewing and redacting records.

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a nonprofit group that works to protect public access to meetings and records, is inviting nominations for its 2012-13 Opee awards, recognizing achievements high and low. The awards can recognize actions from February 2012 through to the present day. The awards will be announced in March as part of the […]

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a story of how five Republican legislators settled an open records lawsuit by two liberal groups by agreeing to turn over emails from their personal accounts to and from a conservative organization that works with corporations to draft legislation.

In the La Crosse Tribune, Betsy Bloom examines the open records implications of cellular texts and tweets among public officials.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the story of a Court of Appeals decision that all government contractors are subject to Minnesota’s open records laws. “Under the law, private residents or businesses contracting with the government must comply with the Data Practices Act “as if it were a government entity.” “

From the ACLU of Wisconsin site, a photographers’ rights workshop to be held October 16, 2012, at the UW Law School in Madison, featuring presenters Christa Westerberg, vice-president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, and Michael P. King, a staff photojournalist at the Wisconsin State Journal.

From the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism site, titled “AG updates open records guide”, Bill Lueders explains the most important changes in the Attorney General’s open records compliance guide, most notably that records custodians may not charge for the cost of the redaction of sensitive information.

From the League of Wisconsin Municipalities site, titled “Municipalities Cannot Recover Costs of Redacting Public Records”: Wisconsin’s municipalities may find they are in a difficult place when it comes to complying with Wisconsin’s public records law. The law requires municipalities to produce any records responsive to a request that can be disclosed while redacting from those same […]

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:  “The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday against the city of Milwaukee and for the Journal Sentinel in a dispute over whether a government body can charge for employees to delete information deemed confidential from public records. By unanimous vote, the high court reversed a Milwaukee County judge’s ruling.”

  The decision released today by a panel of federal judges in Milwaukee contains some strong language regarding the secrecy of the process. It says (p. 5) that “Every effort was made to keep this work out of the public eye” and (p. 34) called the bill’s drafting “needlessly secret, regrettably excluding input from the […]

This Wisconsin Rapids Tribune article describes the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort’s desire for concealed carry permits to be made public.

The Baraboo News Republic describes its Opee award and the connection to its two sister publications.

The Appleton Post-Crescent describes the Opee award for Hilbert Village President Ken Stenklyft, who resigned his county board seat rather than stay silent about an open records issue.

March 11 through 17 is Sunshine Week. Wisconsin has some of the strongest “sunshine laws” in the country, and I salute all of the Wisconsin records custodians, meeting organizers and others who diligently perform their duties under these laws. This spring, an important public records case is pending in our Wisconsin Supreme Court: Milwaukee Journal […]

The Lakeland Times covers the story of the efforts of State Sen. Jim Holperin’s efforts to end the Legislature’s exemption from the public records retention law.

Here’s a funny and instructive video on the right of citizens to take photos in public, courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Wisconsin Department of Justice attorneys will host a series of seminars in October on Wisconsin public records and open meetings laws. The seminars are designed to help government officials and the public better understand their responsibilities and rights under the law. Details are available here for the free seminars.

• “Supervisor won’t pay county’s legal fees,” Baraboo News Republic, 4/30/11 • “New site makes public notices easy to search,” LaCrosse Tribune, 1/26/11 • “The Reporter files lawsuit over police investigation,” The Oshkosh Northwestern, 1/7/11 • Editorial: “Don’t let clerks decide court recrods access,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 11/5/10 • “Times, Miller reach settlement over open records lawsuit,” The […]