BARABOO – The Sauk County Board voted 15-14 on Monday to settle an open records lawsuit with the Baraboo News Republic.
Supervisors voted to hand over documents to the newspaper and pay $35,000 to reimburse a portion of its legal fees. The county’s insurance provider will pay another $10,000.
The records mainly relate to a case in which a local man was found dead on property the county had condemned, as well as controversies surrounding the hiring and firing of administrative officials following the incident.
In December, a Green Lake County judge ordered officials to turn over the records, although his decision left the issue of legal fees unresolved.
An attorney hired by the county’s insurance company filed the petition to appeal on Dec. 28 as a placeholder. On Monday, a motion to continue with the appeal failed 13-15.
