Latest Wisconsin Open Records Case

Wisconsin Supreme Court 120K PDF, via a kind Chan Stroman-Roll email:

This case is not about a direct denial of public access to records, but the issue in the present case directly implicates the accessibility of government records. The greater the fee imposed on a requester of a public record, the less likely the requester will be willing and able to successfully make a record request. Thus, the imposition of fees limits and may even serve to deny access to government records. In interpreting the Public Records Law, we must be cognizant that the legislature's preference is for "complete public access" and that the imposition of costs, as a practical matter, inhibits access.

A number of open records requests have been published here, including 1996-2006 Police calls and a school district land purchase that lacked competitive offers.

Related: The Sunlight Foundation.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 1, 2012 2:25 AM
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