Appeals court: Wisconsin cities violated records laws

Read the full story at WISN-TV
MADISON, Wis. -- Three southeastern Wisconsin municipalities violated the state's open records law by handing off requests for property assessment databases to the contractors who compiled them, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Sussex, Thiensville and Port Washington control their contractors' records and can't escape that duty by shuffling it off to others, the 2nd District Court of Appeals said. "Simply because Sussex, Thiensville and Port Washington have contracted out the collection and maintenance of the assessment information does not mean that they have relieved themselves of their responsibilities," the court said.

// Set DC ad position if(typeof dcadposition == 'undefined')dcadposition = 1; else dcadposition++; if (typeof segQS == 'undefined')segQS=''; if (typeof adid == 'undefined')adid='false'; document.write(""); if ((!document.images && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Mozilla/2.") >= 0) || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("WebTV")>= 0) { document.write(""); document.write(""); }

The decision sends a clear message to government entities that they can't "play games" with record requests, said Jennifer Peterson, an attorney who filed briefs in the case on behalf of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. "They can no longer say, 'Go talk to our contractor who we hired to do this,"' Peterson said. "They are responsible for ensuring the public has access to their records, including records of their independent contractors."