KENOSHA – The Kemper Center may be a public park, but the not-for-profit that rents the property and operates events there is not subject to open records law, an appellate court panel has ruled.
Wisconsin’s 2nd District Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed a 2017 Kenosha County Circuit Court decision about the center’s status, ruling it “does not resemble a government corporation in function, effect or status” and is not subject to open-records requirements.
The property, a former Episcopal residential girls’ school that closed in the 1970s, was purchased by a group of alumni, which donated it to Kenosha County for a public park. As part of the agreement, the not-for-profit Kemper Center Inc. rents the property for $1 a year and operates events like concerts, educational and arts events and private events.
In 2016, Annette Flynn, a Kenosha resident and co-owner of a catering company, sued the Kemper Center Inc. after she sought records pertaining to vendor and caterer contracts awarded by the Kemper Center. She also requested contract agreements between the Kemper Center and the county, annual reports, tax documents, minutes from the board of directors meetings and expenses and revenues for specific events.
The lawsuit argued the Kemper Center was a ‘quasi-governmental corporation’ subject to public scrutiny. Circuit Court Judge Chad Kerkman ruled in Flynn’s favor, finding that the center’s records should be public.
The appellate court reversed that decision Tuesday, stating that the bulk of the center’s revenue comes from non-county sources.
“Kemper Center Inc. does not appear to the public to be an arm of county government, nor does the county wield any significant degree over Kemper Center Inc.’s operations,” the court found.
