Wisconsin’s Public Records Law requires officials to provide “the greatest possible information” in response to public records requests. Wis. Stat. § 19.31. In Lueders v. Krug, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District II, clarified that this mandate requires officials to provide electronic copies of materials if electronic copies are requested.
In June 2016, Bill Lueders emailed State Representative Scott Krug to request copies of all citizen correspondence relating to specified bills and key terms. Krug made paper copies of the responsive emails, which Lueders personally inspected. In July, Lueders again emailed Krug to revise his request, clarifying that he wished “to receive the records in electronic form.” Krug refused, arguing that the paper copies were sufficient, and citing Wis. Stat. § 19.35(1)(b):
If a requester appears personally to request a copy of a record that permits copying, the authority having custody of the record may, at its option, permit the requester to copy the record or provide the requester with a copy substantially as readable as the original.
Lueders filed a mandamus action to require Krug to release the documents in electronic form. The circuit court granted mandamus relief to Lueders. The court of appeals affirmed.
The court of appeals first concluded that Krug misinterpreted the applicable statute. Section 19.35(1)(b) only applies when a requester appears in person and makes a request. Here, Lueders made both of his requests by email. Further, the Legislature amended this section in the 1990s; previously, the section applied to all public records requests. This change demonstrated to the court of appeals that the Legislature intentionally distinguished between in-person and other public records requests.
The court of appeals next explained why paper copies were not an adequate substitute for electronic copies. As in State ex rel. Milwaukee Police Ass’n v. Jones—where an amended request for a digital copy of an audio recording was not satisfied by having previously provided an analog copy—electronic copies contain substantially more and different information compared to paper copies. For example, metadata (i.e., data about other data) can “show when documents were created and who created them[; …] a paper printout from electronic records, unlike an electronic copy, results in a loss of some information.” Lueders at ¶ 12.
Ultimately, Krug was left arguing that the paper copies were “good enough” in response to a request for electronic copies. The court disagreed, and ordered release of electronic copies.
Moving forward, public records custodians should carefully review all records requests, and provide answers in the desired format (when this would not require them to create additional documents, i.e., create a record). Officials should also understand what metadata is, and what it can reveal to public records requesters.