Wisconsin transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Wisconsin.
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The Wisconsin project on Sunshine Review
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Editorial: Lockup, closed doors can't shut out sunshine
November 20, 2008: When it comes to open records compliance, things seem to have gotten better in Wisconsin over the last decade. But there's still not enough, "Let me see how I can help you?" and too much "Why do you want that?" at our sheriff office windows and clerk counters.
The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and partner the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication released a report detailing their statewide test of open records custodians. As they did in 1999, the partners mustered a network of reporters and citizens to ask for four public records around Wisconsin – from school board closed session minutes to documents detailing town governments' legal fees. There was nothing sneaky about the project. The requestors sought guaranteed public records and public information. According to the report, there were varying degrees of compliance. Read the full editorial here.
Nearly 10% of public records requests wrongly denied, statewide audit finds
November 19, 2008: Three in 10 requests made under the state's public records law were not properly fulfilled, according to a statewide audit released today by open records advocates.
In 31 cases - nearly 10% - requests for simple records were denied or ignored, according to the audit by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Read the full article here.
Dane County may refuse e-mailed open records request
November 18, 2008: If you want to see public records from the city of Madison, a simple e-mail will get a response.
But ask to see records relating to the workings of Dane County government, and you may be told to send it by snail mail.
This year the two governments clarified their policies on how they process requests for public information. But while the city now accommodates e-mailed requests, the county's policy conflicts with the state attorney general's take on state law. Read the full article here.
Second attorney hired in records investigation
November 14, 2008: The city of Janesville has hired a second outside attorney—this one to investigate if city records were illegally released.
Meanwhile, the other outside attorney is investigating accusations that city records were illegally destroyed.
Acting City Manager Jay Winzenz could not say how much the city has spent on the investigations.
Steve Zach of the Boardman Law Firm in Madison was hired earlier to investigate if Mike Williams, leisure services director, illegally destroyed public records.
Now, JoAnn Hart of Stafford Rosenbaum in Madison is investigating the release of a record by another employee that contained disciplinary information.
Hart was hired after The Janesville Gazette and a city employee in May requested records under the state's open records law. Read the full article here.
Supervisors should revisit vote on fees
October 31, 2008: A recent decision by the Sauk County Board doubled the rate the sheriff's department will charge for photocopies of requested records from 25 cents to 50 cents per page. An extra 25 cents per page might not sound like much, but it sets a precedent of restricting access to public information and may well cost taxpayers time and money while the county defends itself in court because of supervisors' misguided decision. Read the full article here.
Attorney probes alleged destruction of city records
October 29, 2008: Acting City Manager Jay Winzenz has hired an outside attorney to investigate whether a city employee illegally destroyed records.
"The investigation is to determine if records were destroyed, and if records were destroyed, if they were public documents," Winzenz said.
The destruction might have violated state statutes on retaining public records, Winzenz said this week. Read the full article here.
Sauk County's increase in copy fee criticized
October 23, 2008: An open government advocate wants Sauk County to reconsider a decision to double the charge for obtaining copies of sheriff's department records.
The County Board voted 20-10 Tuesday night to increase the fee from 25 cents to 50 cents a page for anything over three pages. Read the full article here.
Sheriff's Department will increase copy fees
October 22, 2008: Despite the protest of a few Sauk County supervisors, the sheriff's department will charge more for copies following action by the county board Tuesday night.
"What you're doing here is you're putting another level on freedom of information," said supervisor Robert Sinklair of Prairie du Sac, a law enforcement committee member who voted against the increase. "The taxpayers of this county are already paying for this. Do you want to just keep making (records) less accessible?" Read the full article here.
Openness watchdog turns 30
October 21, 2008: In October 1978, a group of 21 representatives of state print and broadcast media met at the offices of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Their collective goal: To “have more clout, become more of a fist, serve a stronger warning [and] have a bigger impact” in defending rights guaranteed under the First Amendment.
The result was a new state organization called the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. The group, of which I am proud to be part, has survived and thrived. Read the full article here.
Advocates of privacy, openness debate access to Wis. court records
October 14, 2008: Wisconsin's open-records law was never meant to serve as a dating service, a longtime state lawmaker and privacy advocate argued yesterday in a debate over the merits of the state's online court-records system.
Too often the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access site, commonly known as CCAP, is used to snoop on people, like dating partners, said state Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids. In more serious cases it is also used to discriminate against job applicants or those looking for an apartment, he said. Read the full article here.
Judge throws out lawsuit vs. sheriff
October 4, 2008: A Sauk County supervisor's request for jail records was too broad, and compiling the documents would have been too cumbersome for the sheriff's department, a judge ruled this week.
The 14-page decision filed Thursday threw out a lawsuit against Sauk County Sheriff Randy Stammen. Read the full article here.
FROM THE PUBLISHER: Get ready, we’re coming after public records
October 1, 2008: Nine years ago, newspapers around the state collaborated to participate in an audit of local government officials to see how officials complied with Wisconsin’s Open Records Law.
The results were not pretty - only 14 of the state’s 72 counties fully complied with the record requests.
That was in 1999. So how are we doing now? Read the full column here.
Public information audit to gauge openness’
September 24, 2008: Nine years ago newspapers around the state collaborated to participate in an audit of local government officials to see how officials complied with Wisconsin's Open Records Law.
The results were not pretty -- only 14 of the state's 72 counties fully complied with the record requests.
That was in 1999. So how are we doing now? Read the full column here.
Court dismisses case over Wis. lawmakers' secrecy
September 16, 2008: An appeals court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged Wisconsin lawmakers' practice of sharing drafts of bills with lobbyists while withholding them from the public.
Former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager does not have legal standing to continue the case since she left office after losing re-election in 2006, the District 1 Court of Appeals ruled.
Lautenschlager filed suit in 2005 seeking a court order declaring that drafts of bills are public records when lawmakers share them with selected lobbyists and experts. She claimed that practice was a violation of the open records law and gave special interests greater influence than average citizens. Read the full article here.
MPS policy bans trips like the one school official took
September 1, 2008: The rule is clear.
A Milwaukee Public Schools principal cannot use school funds to underwrite out-of-state trips for people they don’t oversee.
No exceptions.
Which is bad news for Barry Applewhite, who runs the Milwaukee High School of the Arts. He tapped his school’s budget to pay for School Board member Charlene Hardin and Lolita Pearson, a data processing secretary, to go to a national school safety conference in Philadelphia in July. Read the full article here.
Was decision legal, ethical?
August 30, 2008: Legal experts disagree about the ethics and legality of Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey's pledge to destroy a contract that allowed a former Sauk County deputy to escape a felony conviction — and whether the document is a public record at all. Read the full article here.
Kohlwey agrred to destroy case files
August 25, 2008: Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey, as a special prosecutor, agreed to destroy files that explain how a former Sauk County deputy escaped a felony conviction, a document shows.
The document raises new questions about whether 43-year-old David Riedel received preferential treatment from the Columbia County prosecutor because he was a law enforcement officer. Read the full article here.
Sheboygan women files landmark case over Web links
August 23, 2008: Can a city stop people from posting a link to its Web site?
That’s the question at the center of a federal lawsuit brought by a Sheboygan woman against the mayor and other officials there, in what appears to be a first-of-its-kind case, according to an Internet law expert.
Jennifer Reisinger says the Sheboygan city attorney ordered her to remove from her Web site a link to the city’s police department, in what she believes was retaliation for her support of recalling Mayor Juan Perez, according to the suit filed last week. Read the full article here.
Council member's e-mails request halted
August 21, 2008: A Wausau City Council member would not say Wednesday why he has asked to see more than four years worth of retired City Attorney Bill Nagle's e-mails, or what he plans to do next after his initial request was denied.
Alderman Tom Miller filed an open records request Aug. 7 asking the city to create an electronic archive of Nagle's e-mail activity from Jan. 1, 2004, to Aug. 8, 2008. Read the full article here.
School board missteps were many
August 16, 2008: A list of policy recommendations by the Eau Claire school board in the wake of former Superintendent Bill Klaus' contract controversy reveals just how far district officials had strayed from following their own rules and state law.
They didn't negotiate Klaus' contracts in accordance with state statute. They didn't review his contracts before approving them. They didn't garner legal oversight of Klaus' contracts. And they failed to ensure his contracts were maintained by the personnel department, instead allowing Klaus to directly change his employment terms. Read the full article here.
Gearing up for electronic record storage
August 9, 2008: With state statutes about the record status of e-mail still not well defined, local government agencies are working to improve their archiving systems.
E-mails are considered a form of public record if they pertain to official business, according to the Wisconsin Public Records Law compliance outline published by the Wisconsin Department of Justice in August 2007. Read the full article here.
Your Right To Know: Supreme Court Rulings Impact Open Government
August 3, 2008: Recent Wisconsin Supreme Court rulings present a mixed bag that still lends some support to open government advocates by providing new guidance to citizens and government bodies.
First, the open government wins... Read the full article here.
City Of Pewaukee stays silent on Police Chief's paid leave
July 31, 2008: Seven days after Police Chief Gary Bach was placed on paid administrative leave, officials still are refusing to tell the public what prompted them to launch a personnel investigation into the city's top law enforcement official. Read the full article here.
Development groups weigh impact of verdict
July 27, 2008: A state Supreme Court ruling that a Beaver Dam economic development group is a quasi-governmental organization and must obey the state’s open meetings and open records laws has been hailed as a victory for open government and criticized as a threat to economic development. Read the full article here.
Open record$ request$
July 19, 2008: Because of the variance in costs that different municipal bodies charge for public records under the Freedom of Information Act, some citizens may only be allowed to know what they can afford.
In an investigation by The Freeman, it was discovered that government bodies charge vastly differing amounts for information and, in some cases, much more than the average person can afford. Read the full article here.
Beaver Dam economic development group must keep records and meetings open to public, state Supreme Court rules
July 11, 2008: In a ruling for open government, the Wisconsin Supreme Court today found that the Beaver Dam Area Development Corp. is a "quasi-government corporation" and must abide by the state's open meetings and public records laws. Read the full article here.
Court: Milwaukee police can keep reports secret
July 2, 2008: Milwaukee police do not have to release reports showing why a mentally ill man was taken into custody before he was released and committed murder, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Emergency detention statements kept by police departments are exempted from the state Open Records Law because they are mental health records, the court ruled. Those reports show why officers feel individuals pose such a threat to themselves or others that they must be committed for treatment. Read the full story here.
City, villages satisfied open records law
June 25, 2008: Wisconsin's open records law does not require governments to provide direct access to its electronic databases, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday.
Instead, they simply must turn over records in an "appropriate format," the court said in overturning an appeals court ruling. Read the full story here.
Contracts shouldn’t steal rights
June 24, 2008: The people who would like to limit the public’s ability to watch its government are at it again, this time in the guise of state employee unions which want to limit access to the records of public employees. A court of appeals panel suggested last week that the state Supreme Court have a look at the case. There is a point of law involved, true, but the answer is easy: No. Read the full story here.
High court may hear records case
June 17, 2008: The state Supreme Court should consider whether the Legislature properly changed Wisconsin's open records law when it approved a contract with state employees that prohibited making their names public, the appeals court said Tuesday.
The Journal Sentinel and the Lakeland Times in Minocqua requested information about certain state employees under the state’s open records law, but the employees’ names were redacted under a collective bargaining agreement they had reached with the state. Read the full story here.
Wis. Supreme Court asked to take open records case
June 17, 2008: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether state government must release the names of union employees.
The Department of Administration says employment contracts prohibit the release of information identifying union workers.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is seeking the names of employees who lost driving privileges, and the Lakeland Times wants a list of certain Department of Natural Resources employees.
The newspapers claim the state's refusal to divulge the names violates the open records law. A judge agreed in 2006. Read the full story here.
Lawsuit after 911 call gone wrong
May 14, 2008 In the wake of a tragic murder after a botched 911 call, Wisconsin media outlets have joined forces in a lawsuit against Dane County, Madison, and the Madison Police Department seeking denied records of the call in question.
Media Outlets Announce Open-Record Suit Concerning 911 Case
Lawsuit filed over withheld records
Public employee benefits in Wisconsin 50% higher than private benefits
May 11, 2008 Saying that government salaries play a role in squeezed municipal budgets, the Sheboygan Press is preparing to post an online database of Sheboygan-area public employees making more than $25,000. The information was obtained through open records requests.Municipalites struggle to afford rising cost of employee benefits
