Opee Award nominees sought

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 […]

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Photographers’ rights workshop

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.

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AG updates open records guide

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.

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Municipalities Cannot Recover Costs of Redacting Public Records

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 […]

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Supreme Court decides against redaction charges

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.”

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Sunshine Week 2012: The Importance of Access to Public Records

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 […]

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State to hold open government seminars

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.

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Statewide articles on open government

• “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 […]

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