DNR settles lawsuit

Firm claimed request delays unreasonable

A public interest law firm and the state Department of Natural Resources said Thursday they have settled a lawsuit brought by the law firm over claims of unreasonably long delays by the agency in responding to public records requests.

The suit was filed in January by Midwest Environmental Advocates after lawyers and staff for the firm waited months for the agency to hand over documents.

In its suit, the law firm said at the time it had been waiting more than 10 months for the DNR to provide records in one case. And in another, it took more than sevens months to get the documents it asked for.

“Our action brought MEA, DNR and the Department of Justice to the table for an overdue and effective discussion about how DNR responds to public records requests,” Tressie Kamp, an attorney for the law firm, said in a statement.

The law firm said it filed the suit to resolve the records cases, but also to highlight what it saw as a pattern of delays in turning over public records to citizens, nonprofit groups and the media.

Kamp said she hoped the settlement will add transparency to handling of records requests and give citizens more guidance when they ask for records from the agency.

In a letter to the law firm, DNR chief legal counsel Quinn Williams said the settlement should not be “construed as an admission of liability by the department.”

He also said that the settlement did not mean the agency believed that the actions it took in responding to three requests from the law firm violated the state open records law.

In an interview, Williams said the DNR since the fall of 2013 has been working on a better process to respond to records cases, including the hiring in November 2014 of a full-time employee to oversee information requests.

The DNR also has developed a centralized database to track requests and has posted a new open records procedure and more help for citizens online.

It is also classifying requests as “simple,” when staff should be able fulfill requests within 10 business days, and “complex,” when the DNR will try to fulfill requests within 30 business days.

DNR spokesman George Althoff said the department’s records caseload has risen from 337 in 2012 to 3,143 in 2015.

Separately, Gov. Scott Walker issued an executive order on March 11 aimed at speeding up agencies’ responses to records requests, including fulfilling “any small and straight forward request” within 10 business days, if possible.

In July, the GOP governor and Republican legislative leaders proposed a major revamping of the open records law, but backed off within days after public criticism. The changes would have essentially let officials keep records from public review that would show how they legislate.

In February, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported DNR officials discussed disciplining an employee after she provided records construed as too detailed to a Sheboygan County citizens group fighting plans by the Kohler Co. for a golf course on the shore of Lake Michigan, emails show.

Also in February, the Journal Sentinel reported the existence of a list of citizens and activists to whom the DNR would not respond, except when it was required by the open records law. Althoff said open records cases are handled the same for all individuals and organizations.

Another law firm, Bender Westerberg, filed a lawsuit in December over the response time to records requests it made on behalf of a different public interest group.

Christa Westerberg of Bender Westerberg is reviewing the DNR’s new policy, but she is troubled by a separate request she made on behalf of Friends of the Black River Forest — the group opposed to Kohler’s new golf course plans.

She cited emails showing that on Sept. 10 the DNR had compiled all information related to the golf course plans, but did not turn it over until Dec. 30.

A separate email shows the agency later realized it had to retrieve archived records from officials who had left the agency, and then have the records reviewed by lawyers.

Her initial request was made in July. Westerberg said the process took too long.

Retrieving archived records “added a significant amount of time to processing the request,” Althoff said.