Wisconsin Court: Economic Development Records Public

Economic development groups must abide by Wisconsin's open meetings and records laws if they closely resemble government bodies, the state Supreme Court held Friday in one of two rulings dealing with public information.

In another case, the court said officials must hand over information from closed government meetings as evidence in lawsuits.

The decisions' impact is twofold: Quasi-governmental groups brokering multimillion-dollar business deals are open to as much public scrutiny as any other government body, and closed meetings about government workers' performances or other sensitive matters aren't completely secret.

"Absolute victories for the citizens of this state," said Peter Fox, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, which filed briefs in both cases. "It's really about citizens and ... the ability of local governments to operate fully in public view."

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