Attorney General Opinions and Letters

Wisconsin statutes grant responsibility to the Attorney General to provide citizens with advice regarding the state’s open meetings and public records laws. The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of Open Government maintains an extensive listing of the advisories and opinions it has issued regarding the state’s open records and open meetings laws. To see this […]

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Text of open records law

Open Records Law Listed below is the complete text of the Wisconsin Open Records Law, Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31-19.39, as of December 2020. Click here for a more detailed and annotated version of the statutes. Annotations are useful references to case law and opinions of the Attorney General that can help explain a passage. 19.31 […]

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Text of open meetings law

Open Meetings Law Listed below is the complete text of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law, Wis. Stat. §§ 19.81-19.98, as of December 2020. Click here for a more detailed and annotated version of the statutes. Annotations are useful references to case law and opinions of the Attorney General that can help explain a passage. 19.81 […]

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Case law

Open Records Cases Adell v Sullivan (Court of Appeals, 1997) Denying damages and costs to a prison inmate who alleged the Racine Correctional Institute withheld documents and responded too slowly to a request for records. Atlas Transit v Korte (Court of Appeals, 2001) Upholding lower court’s balancing of interests in favor of a school system’s […]

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“Formal” Open Records Opinions

  McNamara/June 10, 1994 (Discussion of whether final deliberations and approval of contract ratification must be conducted in open session). Pelrine/Feb. 25, 1992 (Regarding closed session discussions of hiring of public employee). Ott/Nov. 18, 1991(Analyzing the law’s definitions of governmental bodies and quasi-governmental corporations). Besadny/April 28, 1989 (Applicability of law to advisory committees). Risser/Dec. 19, […]

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