Wisconsin State Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, admitted Friday he violated Wisconsin’s open records law in accordance with a lawsuit settlement he reached with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.The suit, filed in August by the DPW, alleged Kapanke’s office failed to provide the DPW with records of two economic forums Kapanke hosted earlier in the year. The DPW requested these documents due to concerns Kapanke used campaign dollars to fund the events.

Using campaign dollars to fund state events is not illegal, but it is unlawful to fail to produce public records when requested.

In a statement to Dane County Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess, Kapanke acknowledged his office received a request from the DPW, but Kapanke’s office could not find any documents in their initial search.

He said a subsequent search conducted by the Legislative Technology Services Bureau produced the documents from overlooked databases, and his office then turned those over to the DPW.

“I take responsibility for any failures by my office in responding to the public records request, and intend to take steps to prevent any similar occurrences in the future,” Kapanke said in a statement.

The terms of the settlement include Kapanke paying $100 in statutory fees and $38,000 in legal fees in order to take the burden off taxpayers.

Kapanke is currently running for a seat in the House of Representatives for the third district against Democratic incumbent Ron Kind.

Originally, Kapanke’s office claimed to have no records pertaining to the events, but as the trial progressed the records began to surface, according to Jason Stephany, spokesperson for the DPW.

“We had been informed by concerned constituents that there were a number of campaign events and taxpayer dollars were used for them,” Stephany said. “We filed requests for the documents; Kapanke took no action for two months and under threat of lawsuit responded to the request but denied they exist.”

Stephany also said Kapanke’s staff’s testimony proved the staff used personal e-mails for concealment and destroyed countless documents.

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, blasted the DPW in a statement for their exaggerations about the situation.

“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s latest hyperbolic rant against Sen. Kapanke is simply absurd,” Priebus said. “Their attempts to smear an honorable man, who has been cleared of any nefarious intent by the Government Accountability Board, are malicious, unfounded and disgraceful.”

The GAB sent Kapanke a letter in August in response to inquiries made by Kapanke about his method of payment for the economic forums. The letter was written by Jonathan Becker, administrator of the Division of Ethics and Accountability at the GAB.

In the letter, Becker said while Kapanke should not have mingled campaign funds with state resources, Becker concluded Kapanke handled things as best he could and did not act improperly.