Police in Wisconsin have begun withholding the names of drivers in police reports in response to a 2012 case involving the village of Palatine, Ill.

Two recent developments have eased access to state records on child care and senior care facilities — institutions serving highly vulnerable populations.

Among advocates for open government, it is often said that public officials should not get kudos for doing the minimum. If the law requires a certain degree of openness and the authorities oblige, they might avoid a kick in the shin but won’t likely get a pat on the back.
That may be the operative theory [...]

By Mike Juley
 
A ruling last year by the Wisconsin Supreme Court involving the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel became the focus of attention Feb. 27, when a state Assembly committee held a public hearing on a bill, AB 26, that would drastically increase the cost of obtaining public records.
The bill, if approved, would let custodians of public [...]

By Bill Lueders
Let’s start with a stipulation: Not all of the inappropriate behavior that takes place in the Wisconsin state Legislature is committed by lawmakers. Some spectators, especially during the last two years, have also shown poor manners and bad form.
People who shout “Liar!” from the gallery as the governor gives a State of the [...]

The state Department of Natural Resources is rewriting its enforcement procedures, including steps to make the process less transparent.

Public officials sometimes resist sharing the information that forms the path for their actions with citizens and taxpayers. But it’s not “their” business, it’s the public’s business. The public has every right to know the details of government operations.

By Dee J. Hall
Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin’s Open Records Law asserts the public’s right to the “greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them.”
But the law’s reach has been tested in recent years by electronic communications that are easily sent — and just as [...]