Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council

Almost every state official, when asked, will express support for the public’s right to know how government operates. This is especially true of anyone who aspires to be attorney general, a job that entails authority to interpret and enforce Wisconsin’s open records and meetings laws. In fact, though, there are vast differences in the extent […]

Public records are just that — public. They should not be hidden or blocked by red tape or intimidation. They should be easy to access, view and learn from. Wisconsin’s Web site for circuit court records is a great example of government respect for the public’s right to know. The popular site, wcca.wicourts.gov, lists just […]

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council distributed questions to candidates for the office of Wisconsin Attorney General, which has a particular statutory role regarding the enforcement and interpretation of Wisconsin’s open records and open meetings laws. The council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that focuses on issues affecting public access to meetings and records. Sponsoring […]

Have you ever read news of a development project and wondered, “Now, when did that get approved?” Or have you been surprised to see the quiet field near your home become a new construction site? Don’t chastise yourself for being a bad citizen, or assume you’ve simply missed the project’s publicity. Your government may have […]

Gregg Walker is ticked off. “It’s absolutely ludicrous that this attorney general thinks she’s for open government and open records,”  fumes Walker, the general manager of The Lakeland Times newspaper in Minocqua, referring to Peg Lautenschlager. “In a critical test of the public’s right to know, [she] failed us and fought for secrecy in government […]

Wisconsin’s open meetings law is based on the idea that “a representative government of the American type is dependent upon an informed electorate.” But don’t tell that to two prominent Republican state senators. They seem to think that it’s better when the public isn’t involved. Republican Sens. Glenn Grothman of West Bend and Alberta Darling […]

About five years ago, Wisconsin State Journal reporter Dee Hall  wrote to the heads of the four partisan caucus offices then in operation in Wisconsin asking to see all the photos and graphics they had produced the previous year. Hall was acting on a tip that the taxpayer-funded offices, established to provide legislators with extra […]

Government officials have always wanted to shoot the messenger.  Now they’re taking aim at “leakers.” Elected leaders in La Crosse and Brookfield have passed ordinances to punish city workers or officials who reveal information from closed meetings. City council members want to use the local laws to decide – subjectively and after the fact – […]

(Revised August 2013) Wisconsin’s Open Records Law begins with a declaration: “In recognition of the fact that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official […]

Let’s set aside the question of whether Wisconsin should have a “concealed carry” for handguns, and instead turn to the issue of whether permit carriers’ identities should be kept secret. On Nov. 2, a joint public hearing on the concealed carry bill will be held by the Assembly Criminal Justice and Homeland Security and the […]

Freedom of information, like all of our freedoms, demands our watchfulness if the rights of the public are to be preserved. Public records and open meetings are a cornerstone of clean and open government. The ability of citizens to monitor and participate in government depends on it. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to fight for this […]

Wisconsin’s Open Records Law, passed in 1981, is clear and unequivocal. It says the public is entitled to “the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government” and the actions of officials and employees, and that “only in an exceptional case may access be denied.” But the Wisconsin Supreme Court seems bent on making these […]

It was apparent in early 2004 to anyone attending the monthly meetings of the Ozaukee County Board that supervisors were quite familiar with Internet technology, thank you. It was obvious because they routinely discussed county business via e-mail prior to county board meetings. Supervisors would refer to their online conversations during public debate. Some would […]

As identified by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council 1. High costs. The Open Records Law states that custodians may charge only the the “actual, necessary and direct cost” of reproducing records, and in some cases (when more than $50) of locating records. Yet media and other requesters are sometimes asked to pay exorbitant amounts […]

Former newspaper editor Peter Fox recalls the “sick feeling” he got when he discovered his newspaper had been misled by Racine County officials who were withholding a much-anticipated report on problems at the county jail. It was 1987, and rumors abounded that a report commissioned by the county’s corporation counsel examining overcrowding and dangers at […]

The State of Wisconsin Elections Board enters into a $13 million contract with Accenture to create a statewide voter registration system. Certain lawmakers and pundits go wild, accusing Accenture of incompetence and threatening a legal challenge to the Elections Board’s action. Do these critics have a point? How did the Board settle on Accenture? The […]

Last spring, the newspaper I work for had a problem obtaining some public records from our local school district. Officials there demanded that we first send a check for $613.08 to cover the costs they expected to incur reviewing the records and deciding what information to black out. These costs put the records effectively beyond […]

Imagine you hear through the grapevine that your town’s board has been meeting with its lawyer and some political allies about a land deal. You might be affected, so you ask about the talks, and they respond: None of your business. Or you want to check out the zoning documents that your county board used […]