Your Right to Know

Records requesters don't always get what they seek — even when they're entitled to documents under their state's public records law.

So, what makes the difference when it comes to compliance? The answer may surprise you, writes Christa Westerberg, an attorney at Pines Bach law firm in Madison and vice president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council in the latest "Your Right to Know" column.

Last month, a judge ruled that the state Legislature violated the open records law when it withheld records regarding the sexual harassment of a female staffer. However, an order to release the unredacted records has been put on hold as the governmental body appeals the decision — despite the fact that the former legislator who the allegations were lodged against says, if it were up to him, they would have been released long ago.

In Wisconsin, it’s perfectly legal for government officials to use their personal emails to do government work — even though a government entity may not have the ability to access personal accounts that can be used to hide conversations from the public.

In the latest "Your Right to Know" column for the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, Tom Kamenick argues that to remove barriers to public accountability and improve the efficiency of government operations, the legislature should prohibit the use of personal email accounts for government business at the state and local level.

In the latest “Your Right to Know” column, Larry Gallup argues it makes no sense that public records retention requirements apply to your local parks and recreation department but not to the positions in our state government that are most susceptible to corruption.

In March, The Washington Post reported that UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank sought to move a conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus in the fall to a private portal used by presidents and chancellors of the 14 Big Ten universities.

It's just one example of a disturbing trend toward using digital platforms to evade Wisconsin’s Open Records Law, writes David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy, in the most recent Your Right to Know column from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. 

Wisconsin’s open records law, passed in 1981, allows records custodians to charge for the “actual, necessary and direct” cost of making and sending copies, as well as the “actual, necessary and direct” cost of locating them, if this latter charge exceeds $50.

In the latest "Your Right to Know" column, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders argues it's a practice the Wisconsin state Legislature should consider ending.

Wisconsin lawmakers will soon begin redrawing congressional and state voting boundaries, in accordance with the latest Census.

The last round of redistricting, in 2011, provides a good example of how things shouldn't work, Matthew DeFour, a state politics editor for the Wisconsin State Journal, writes for the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council's most recent "Your Right to Know" column.