Freedom of information advocates and advocacy groups say the wording of the current open records law is too broad, leading to a delay in filing record requests.
The state statute says records are to be filed by each authority “as soon as practicable and without delay.” Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council said the law is written so there is no timeframe on when the request needs to be filed, which leads to delays in records requests.
“There has never been any clarity as to how long is too long,” Lueders said.
This week is Sunshine Week, a national initiative which works to promote conversation about freedom of information and open government, Lueders said. During this week, he said people take an opportunity to discuss open government.
Some local groups have experienced issues with receiving records requests in a timely manner. Mike Browne, deputy director for One Wisconsin Now, said after Attorney General Brad Schimel hired a new chief of staff, they had asked his office for the resume of the new chief, along with the resumes of the other applicants.
After more than a month, Browne said they still had not received an acknowledgment that the request was filed, or the records.
“I don’t think there is any good explanation for why records that … are to be made publicly available, for there to be significant delays in producing them,” Browne said.
Lueders said he believed the reason for the delay is a lack of staff. He said departments receive a lot of records requests and when they don’t have enough staff to handle them promptly, they take a long time. However, Lueders said he believed that was not a good enough excuse. He said if that was the issue, more staff should be assigned.
Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, said to the Associated Press he had not heard complaints about the law. He said it would be difficult to set a specific timeline, due to the varying requests the filing custodians face.
“We have to find ways to get custodians to respond as quickly as they can, but I don’t think there can be a universal time stamp required for these returns,” Mason said.
In an Op-Ed piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published Sunday for Sunshine Week, Schimel said there was consensus the open records laws were outdated. Schimel said the DOJ needs to lead by example, so they are overhauling their public records practices so the requests are processed quickly and transparently.
“I am convinced that if we work together, we can make modifications to our laws that will provide clearer guidance to both public officials and those who seek information from government without reducing rights to access,” Schimel said.
Schimel said he is planning a summit that will answer the unanswered questions of the open records law. In an email to The Badger Herald, Anne E. Schwartz, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, said the date and content have not been finalized.
