Wisconsin Transparency Project: Wisconsin Supreme Court guts open records law remedies
Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court abandoned 40 years of precedent allowing record requesters to recover attorney fees when they sue and force record custodian to release records. Previously, if a custodian changed their mind and “voluntarily” turned over records after being sued, the requester could still get their attorney fees if the lawsuit was “a cause” of the release. Now, requesters can only get fees if a court issues a ruling on the merits of a case. But because “voluntarily” turning over records typically moots a case, it remains unclear under what circumstances a court will rule on whether an