Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council

Every year in Wisconsin state government, billions of taxpayer dollars are spent on programs and policies that impact every citizen, community, school and business. While many people roll their eyes and tune out the sometimes messy, partisan, unpredictable work of state government, WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network encourages citizens to lean in. For the past 18 […]

In 2018, a mobile home park owner in Stevens Point lost his operator’s license after submitting falsified drinking water samples to the state, purportedly leaving longtime residents of the park at risk of consuming excess iron and manganese. He appealed. In 2022, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources authorized the spreading of human waste on […]

All too often, secrecy and confidentiality carry the day in proceedings of state and local government. In one recent case, the name “Microsoft” on a state Public Service Commission filing was redacted – blocked from public view – along with pages and pages of other information. The redactions served no purpose, as the company’s role […]

In a 2007 ruling known as Zellner v. Cedarburg School District, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared that because public school teachers “are entrusted with the responsibility of teaching children,” the public has a clear right to know about allegations of misconduct against educators. I wonder what the justices would think of a school district trying […]

As homelessness grows across Wisconsin, social service agencies are feeling a crunch. The federal government is slashing funding for tackling the problem, and state lawmakers aren’t helping much either. Reporters for Wisconsin Watch, the nonprofit news organization for which I work, unpacked those challenges in a mid-July story. They noted the Legislature’s budget writing committee […]

This month, for the first time in 30 years, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is without Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. It is also without one of its most consistent advocates for transparency in government. Bradley served three ten-year terms on the court, the last of which expired July 31. During this time, she wrote nearly 600 opinions, including quite […]

Last month, the Wisconsin town of Hazelhurst postponed discussion of a proposed ordinance due to a typo. The meeting agenda had incorrectly listed “wake board” instead of the intended “wake boat.” Said town chairman Ted Cushing, “I’m not going to violate the Open Meetings Law.” It was the right call, one that affirms my belief […]

Probably the most commonly used — and, in my opinion, abused — exemption in our state’s Open Meetings Law is the one that lets governmental bodies meet behind closed doors “whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session.” The exemption, 19.85(1)(e) in Wisconsin state statutes, is used by all manner of public bodies, from […]

In any community, the role of the medical examiner is vital. Medical examiners — or coroners, in the nearly half of Wisconsin’s 72 counties that have them as an alternative — determine the cause and manner of death, support the criminal justice system and track data to identify trends that can impact public health and […]

Wisconsin’s municipal courts can have a significant and devastating impact on the lives of people who can’t afford to pay a citation due to poverty. Without critical legal protections, unpaid municipal citations can lead to warrants, arrests and incarceration. There is no right to counsel in Wisconsin’s municipal courts, meaning people unable to afford an […]

For the 19th consecutive year, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council is bestowing its annual Openness in Government Awards, or Opees, meant to recognize outstanding efforts to protect the state’s tradition of open government, as well as highlight impediments. The awards are being announced in advance of national Sunshine Week (sunshineweek.org), March 16-22 and will […]

There’s good news and bad news in a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision upholding an open records judgment related to the ridiculous and ham-handed investigation into alleged 2020 election fraud headed by former Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman. On the good news side, the appellate court upheld a lower court ruling that the state […]

Shereen Siewert, publisher of the Wausau Pilot and Review, has been breathing easier these days. In September, a Wisconsin appeals court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of state Sen. Cory Tomczyk’s defamation lawsuit against Siewert, the nonprofit newsroom she founded in 2017, and one of its reporters. The ruling, which Tomczyk did not appeal, ended […]