Wisconsin’s open records law is most often used by requesters seeking to obtain records from a government agency. But occasionally it works in reverse, allowing someone to block the release of records to a requester.
Author Archives: Christa Westerberg
Christa Westerberg is the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council’s vice president and a partner at the Pines Bach law firm in Madison, Wisconsin.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Fee recovery is key to transparency
Many states, including Wisconsin, have public records laws. But that doesn’t mean requesters always get the records they seek, or even that the laws are followed.
What provisions in a state’s laws are most associated with compliance?
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Let public see COVID-19 data
Wisconsin citizens are getting the “You can’t handle the truth” treatment from some officials over information related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Pollution records must be open
Just shy of two years ago, this column explored the heightened importance of open government when public health is at risk. Multiple examples showed the government was not sharing timely information with the public, or even other branches of government, on issues such as clean drinking water and chronic wasting disease.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Abrahamson let the sunshine in
As Justice Shirley Abrahamson ends her tenure on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, after 43 years and more than 1,300 authored opinions, she leaves a rich legacy of legal scholarship, importantly including her support for government transparency.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Policies put public health at risk
Wisconsin’s open government laws were meant to strengthen our democracy by ensuring an informed electorate. But, sometimes, transparency is about more than democracy—it is about human health, with serious consequences when transparency fails.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Mail ballots are an affront to transparency
A growing trend threatens transparency — and good government — in Wisconsin. Some legislative committees are using “mail ballots” to vote, instead of voting during public meetings.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Supreme Court cases key to openness
Wisconsin’s third branch of government is critical to open government. This year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear three cases involving Wisconsin’s open records law, and could make important decisions involving access to the courts. The court’s docket starts with a case about whether videos of law enforcement training sessions must be released to the […]
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Concerns linger over ‘transitory’ records
The last six months have been a roller coaster for Wisconsin’s open records law. After the Legislature’s failed attack on the law over the Independence Day holiday, August brought a new threat. A little-known state board expanded the definition of “transitory records,” which can be immediately destroyed. Once this action was revealed, there was an […]
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Cops in shootings should be promptly named
Following the Aug. 9 police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, citizens and the public demanded to know the involved officer’s name. The Ferguson Police Department stirred national attention, and some outrage, by waiting six days to reveal it: Officer Darren Wilson. Wisconsin has Ferguson beat. On April 30, 2014, a […]
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Lawmakers should retain, release records
Lawmakers must provide any documents they possess in response to an open records request. But they don’t need to provide documents they don’t have, and nothing compels them to keep documents.
Posted inOpen records, WisWatch Blog
Keep DNR enforcement sessions open
The state Department of Natural Resources is rewriting its enforcement procedures, including steps to make the process less transparent.