Wisconsin Secretary of State settles open records lawsuit

The conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the lawsuit in Waukesha County Circuit Court last August on behalf of the conservative Institute for Reforming Government. More than five months earlier, IRG had filed a public records request for any communications related to Godlewski’s selection as secretary of state after her predecessor, Doug La Follette, resigned just three months after winning his 12th bid for the office.

The agreement acknowledges that Godlewski should have sought communications about his appointment from any private email accounts used to conduct official business, including his own email and La Follette’s.

Additionally, the settlement agreement says that while Godlewski’s office had acknowledged the IRA’s request for records, no one ever told IRG that no records had been found because the office did not believe it was legally required to send a response if no records were found.

In the agreement, Godlewski said best practice is to respond to requests even when no records are found.

WILL and IRG hailed the settlement as a victory for Wisconsin’s open records law.

“The policy change achieved as a result of this agreement is a victory for transparent government and ensures accountability when our institutions act unfairly,” they said in a statement.

Godlewski’s office told the Wisconsin State Journal in an emailed statement that “the office has and will continue to follow open records law.”

Godlewski provided emails from November 2022 to March 2023 that La Follette had sent to him using his personal email account, [email protected], according to the agreement.

The agreement requires the Legislature’s Republican-led Joint Finance Committee to approve the terms of the settlement for the court to consider the deal valid.

Gov. Tony Evers appointed Godlewski to the post after La Follette, 82, won election in November 2022 and then resigned in March of the following year, an appointment Godlewski called a “complete surprise.”

Republicans, however, were quick to call the exchange a quid pro quo and pressured Evers to call a special election.

Godlewski, who dropped out of the U.S. Senate race ahead of the 2022 primary, has repeatedly denied allegations that Evers gave him the seat because he ended his campaign and supported his party’s front-runner in the Senate race, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who ultimately lost to incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.