Wisconsin Public Records and Open Meetings Handbook

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Published by: State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE
ISBN: 978-1-57862-731-8 554+ pp.; 8th ed. 2024-25 (Includes 2025-26 supplement)
Wisconsin Public Records and Open Meetings Handbook

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In Wisconsin, there is a statutory presumption in favor of access to governmental records and meetings. But there are limits to that access. If you don't know what these limits and rights are, you need The Wisconsin Public Records and Open Meetings Handbook.

The 2025-2026 supplement includes a number of changes, such as:

  • Expanded protection for identities of election officials and election registration officials in the public records law
  • Legislative changes to the judicial privacy protections enacted during the previous legislative session
  • A 2025 Wisconsin Court of Appeals opinion that addressed the issue of necessary parties to public records law cases
  • A 2025 Wisconsin Court of Appeals opinion about whether a city’s common council violated the open meetings law

The 2024-2025 revision includes a number of changes such as:

  • An exception to the public records law, effective July 1, 2025, that affects access to records containing personally identifiable information of an election official or an election registration official
  • New procedures for protecting the privacy of judicial officers, under a statute effective April 1, 2025, which include a penalty for causing a judicial officer’s personal information to be made public in violation of the statute
  • Several unpublished Wisconsin Court of Appeals opinions that addressed issues related to election records
  • A 2025 Wisconsin Court of Appeals opinion discussing the use of secret ballots by members of an entity to which the open meetings law applies and the legality of an individual bringing a complaint on behalf of the state when the relator has a personal interest in the action

In addition, all references in the book to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Wisconsin Public Records Law Compliance Guide and Wisconsin Open Meetings Law Compliance Guide have been updated.

I. Public Records Law

  1. Overview of Wisconsin’s Public Records Law
  2. Making and Responding to a Public Records Request
  3. Privileges
  4. Access to Personnel Records in the Custody of a Public Official
  5. Law Enforcement Records
  6. Pupil and Juvenile Records in the Possession of a School District
  7. Contractors’ Records
  8. Fees a Records Custodian May Charge
  9. Enforcement
  10. Issues Involving Electronic Public Records
  11. Freedom of Information Act

II. Open Meetings Law

  1. Coverage of the Open Meetings Law
  2. Definition of "Meeting"
  3. Accessibility and Openness
  4. Notice
  5. Voting and Record Keeping
  6. Closed Meetings
  7. Enforcement and Penalties

Appendices

  1. Selected Public Records and Open Meetings Rules and Statutes
  2. Sample Notices Concerning Record Requests
  3. Key Cases
  4. Statutory Exceptions
  5. City of Baraboo Joint Review Board Meeting: Public Notice
  6. Verified Open Meetings Law Complaint
  7. Article: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Verbal Conversation and Decreasing Your Legal Liability

For an in depth view of the content in this book, please click to view Table of Contents.

State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE® is the premier publisher of practice guides and handbooks for Wisconsin's attorneys, written by Wisconsin's attorneys. PINNACLE relies on the expertise and contributions of volunteers from within the State Bar of Wisconsin membership to help develop and deliver timely, relevant information to assist Wisconsin's attorneys provide the highest-quality representation and service.

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