Laws in Wisconsin

This web page was last modified May 10, 2007 at 5:13 PM.

Links focussing on Wisconsin's Excellent Open Meetings/Records Law

• Department of Justice - Open Records/Open Meeting Law
• 2005 – Wisconsin Public Records Law – Compliance Outline – Wisconsin Department of Justice – Providing citizens with information on the affairs of government is: [A]n essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties of officers and employees whose responsibility it is to provide such information. To that end, ss. 19.32 to 19.37 shall be construed in every instance with a presumption of complete public access, consistent with the conduct of governmental business. The denial of public access generally is contrary to the public interest, and only in an exceptional case may access be denied.
• 2005 – Wisconsin Open Meetings Law – A Compliance Guide – Wisconsin Department of Justice (updated February 2007) – Wis. Stat. § 19.81(1). The open meetings law creates a presumption that meetings of governmental bodies must be held in open session. State ex rel. Newspapers v. Showers, 135 Wis. 2d 77, 97, 398 N.W.2d 154 (1987). Although there are some exemptions to the open session requirement, those exemptions are to be invoked sparingly and only where necessary to protect the public interest. The policy of the open meetings law dictates that governmental bodies convene in closed session only where holding an open session would be incompatible with the conduct of governmental affairs. ‘Mere government inconvenience is… no bar to the requirements of the law.’ State ex rel. Lynch v. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d 662, 678, 239 N.W.2d 313 (1976).
• League of Wisconsin Municipalities General Municipal Law FAQs
• League of Wisconsin Municipalities Open Meetings Law FAQs
• LWM Proper notice of closed session meetings
• LWM Email and Open Records Law
• State statutes covering open records and open meetings in Wisconsin.