What You Need to Know About Wisconsin Public Records and Open Meetings

Understand the scope of Wisconsin's Public Records and Open Meeting Laws and get to the information you desire.

State and local government impacts everyone's lives. Wisconsin's Public Records Law and Open Meetings Law are designed to allow the public to obtain "the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government," yet many people, private individuals and governmental officers and employees alike frequently misunderstand the scope and nature of the rights and obligations these laws impose. This often leads to frustration and misunderstanding. This topic is designed to help anyone working in or dealing with state and local governments to gain a foundational understanding for the records request process including ways to most effectively obtain information of interest and to understand how or when records requests may be denied or limited. Understand the core obligations of governmental bodies in Wisconsin to hold open meetings, provide proper notice of such meetings, create minutes of such meetings and provide adequate access. This information will explain the rights and remedies available when the law is not followed.

Learning Objectives

- You will be able to define the terms record and meeting for purposes of Wisconsin's Public Records and Open Meetings Law.

- You will be able to describe how to effectively obtain public records in which you are interested.

- You will be able to identify the proper bases for refusing a public records request and what fees may be appropriately charged for complying with a request.

- You will be able to recognize when a violation of the Open Meetings Law is likely to have occurred.