Wisconsin’s public records law is supposed to guarantee timely access to government information so citizens can understand how decisions are made in their name. In practice, that promise increasingly feels theoretical. Basic records that should be simple to obtain often take months to produce, if they are produced at all.
Over the past year my organization, Americans for Prosperity–Wisconsin, has filed straightforward public records requests with executive branch agencies seeking calendars, spending records, and records‑request logs. These requests did not seek anything novel or sensitive. In other governments, these records are often proactively published online. Yet time and again, the response has been delays, partial compliance, or silence.
Routine requests are met with unreasonable delays. We eventually received logs of public records requests from the Governor’s Office after waiting more than three months. These are not sensitive documents, and they could easily be published proactively online.
Even when records are produced, the responses are often incomplete. A single‑page travel expense document from the Governor’s Office took nearly three months to obtain yet failed to include basic costs such as meals and ground transportation that we specifically asked for in our request.
Some delays stretch well beyond what any reasonable person would consider timely. In July 2025, we submitted a public records request for work calendars for officials in the Governor’s Office and the Department of Justice.The Department of Justice has yet to produce responsive records. The Lieutenant Governor’s Office provided records, but only after nearly seven months.
The Governor’s Office finally provided calendars on April 24, roughly nine months after our request. For perspective, I carried and delivered a child before we received these records. When it comes to transparency, Wisconsinites should not have to wait the length of a full pregnancy to learn whotheir governor is meeting with.
These delays cannot be blamed on limited capacity or the complexity of the requests. Two other agencies, for example, responded to our requests in a reasonable timeframe and provided regular communication and negotiation throughout the process. If some smaller state agencies can comply with the law in good faith, others, including the agency responsible for enforcing public records laws, can as well.
The agency in question, the state’s Department of Justice, publishes a “Wisconsin Public Records Law Compliance Guide” declaring that transparency is “the cornerstone of democracy” and that “citizens cannot hold government accountable unless it operates in the open.” Yet the DOJ itself, along with the Governor’s Office and Lieutenant Governor’s Office, has repeatedly failed to meet that standard.
This pattern did not emerge overnight. Early in his tenure, Governor Evers eliminated a public website that tracked how quickly state agencies responded to records requests. Now, as he nears the end of his final term in office, the consequences of that decision are clear: fewer safeguards, longer delays, and less accountability.
Public records laws are not partisan tools. They are meant to ensure that government power is exercised in daylight, regardless of which party is in office or which outlet is asking questions. When access depends on who is asking, or how politically useful the request might be, transparency becomes performative rather than real.
Transparency delayed is transparency denied. Wisconsinites deserve a public records system that treats all requesters equally and enforces the law consistently. Anything less undermines trust and weakens the accountability that open government is supposed to protect.
