Washington County, Wisconsin
From Sunshine Review
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Washington County is one of 72 counties in Wisconsin. The county seat is West Bend. [1]
[edit] Website evaluation
- Main article: Evaluation of Wisconsin county websites
[edit] The good
- Budget information is posted online. [2]
- Has meeting information online. [3]
- County officials have listed contact information. [4]
- Building permits, schedules and fees are posted. [5]
[edit] The bad
- Some tax information and an online tax payment option is provided, but there are no tax breakdowns. [6]
- There is no information on audits, contracts, lobbying, or public records.
[edit] Public Records
The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council performed an audit of compliance with the Wisconsin Open Records Law in 2008. 3 in 10 of the requests submitted were found to be ignored or responded to in violation of state law.
In Washington County, the Sheriff's Office insisted upon getting the name of the requestor before providing the jail booking log records. Wisconsin statute does not allow for government agencies to ask for the name(s) of requestors. There were also problems in the county with gaining access to school and town records.[7]
See audit finds nearly 10% of open records requests denied or ignored for more.
[edit] External links
- Washington County official website
- Economic Development Washington County
- Washington County free public records search
- County profile on E-podunk
[edit] References
- ↑ County Seats of Wisconsin
- ↑ Budget Information, listed under Administration Department.
- ↑ Meeting Information, mouse over the Meetings link on the left side of the screen.
- ↑ County Officials
- ↑ Land Use Division
- ↑ Tax Information
- ↑ Editorial: We can do better on public records, Green Bay Press Gazette, November 23, 2008
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