Wisconsin FOIC

Yesterday we held the Opees, our annual awards for the best and worst in open government news. youtube.com/watch?v=YFLWFL…

And a reminder of our Sunshine Week event in Madison on March 19... x.com/WisFOIC/status…

The Council has named the winners of its 20th annual Openness in Government Awards, or Opees. These recognize outstanding efforts to protect the state’s tradition of open government, as well as highlight some threats to it. wisfoic.org/march-opees-hi…

Celebrate Sunshine Week with WisFOIC and watch our annual Opee Awards on March 19 at Rigby Pub at 5 p.m.

In this month's "Your Right to Know," the difficulties that immigrants face in obtaining government records to prevent their deportation, as described by Elisabeth Lambert of the Wisconsin Education Law and Policy Hub. wisfoic.org/february-a-foi…

This month's "Your Right to Know" is by Jon Henkes, president and CEO of WisconsinEye. It deals with that group's current financial difficulties. wisfoic.org/january-protec…

Our latest monthly "Your Right to Know" column... Written by Bennet Goldstein of Wisconsin Watch, it deals with excessive redactions on documents related to regulatory actions. wisfoic.org/december-the-p…

Sam Martino was a long-time member of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and a dear friend to many in Wisconsin journalism. He's been inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame. wnanews.com/2025/11/14/sam…

This month's "Your Right To Know" concerns the public's interest in knowing what is planned for the construction of data centers in Wisconsin. From Tom Content, the executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin. wisfoic.org/november-data-…

Our "Your Right To Know" column for October concerns the outlandish cost demands made by school districts in response to the paper's records requests. It was written by @CapTimes editor and WisFOIC Secretary Mark Treinen. wisfoic.org/october-costs-…

Our September "Your Right To Know" column, written by council member Jim Malewitz of Wisconsin Watch, concerns the troublesome trend of public officials who refuse to comment on their public actions. wisfoic.org/september-no-c…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is now without one of its most consistent advocates for transparency in government, Council Vice President Christa Westerberg writes wisfoic.org/august-ann-wal…

"The radio show that you can see right through." "Transparency Talk" is WisFOIC president Bill Lueders and Wisconsin Transparency Project's Tom Kamenick giving fresh takes on Wisconsin's open records and open meetings issues. wortfm.org/news-talk/news…

The Wisconsin Department of Justice recently updated its open meetings and public records compliance guides. These are very useful when you have an open meetings or open records question. Here's a link to the open meetings guide... wisdoj.gov/Open%20Governm…

July's "Your Right to Know" column from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. Written by Council president Bill Lueders, it concerns two especially egregious recent departures from the state's tradition of openness. wisfoic.org/july-when-tran…

From Bill Lueders: "Violations of the state's Open Meetings Law are rarely as stark, or as brazen, or as well-documented, as this, which makes it worth sharing (do watch the video):" tmj4.com/news/milwaukee…

June's "Your Right To Know" column concerns the (positive) implications of a recent appeals court ruling regarding closed sessions. It is by Tom Kamenick of the Wisconsin Transparency Project. wisfoic.org/june-want-a-cl…

May's "Your Right To Know" concerns a recent change in policy by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office that limits the amount of information released in death investigations. wisfoic.org/may-when-peopl…

April's "Your Right To Know" is by Emma Shakeshaft, a senior staff attorney and researcher for the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation. It concerns the need to improve access to municipal court records. wisfoic.org/april-improve-…

There's a live Reddit "ask me anything" in celebration of Sunshine Week at noon on Monday, featuring Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Mary Spicuzza and Wisconsin public records legal expert Tom Kamenick. reddit.com/r/wisconsin/co…