MADISON – A state lawmaker should have provided a journalist with electronic copies of records, a Dane County judge has ruled.
In her decision Friday, Circuit Judge Rhonda Lanford wrote that Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) should have provided electronic copies of emails requested by a longtime reporter and freedom of information advocate.
Bill Lueders, the president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the managing editor of the left-leaning Progressive Magazine, said his victory in the case might help the public get cheaper and better open records.
“I’m pleased that the court recognized that requesters are entitled to receive electronic records in the most useful form, especially when that is also the easiest way to provide them,” Lueders said in an email. “The Legislature in this case needlessly printed out many hundreds of pages of emails, instead of downloading these records onto a thumb drive or disc as requested. I hope the state learns a lesson from this, and does a better job in the future.” Read more…