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Public commenter accuses county of diverting open records requests to county attorney, urges board action
Summary
A resident told the Chippewa County Board that multiple open-records requests have been routed to the county attorney instead of the records custodian, alleged statutory delays and potential conflict of interest, and asked the board for written answers and corrective steps.
During the public-comment portion of the April 21 organizational meeting, resident Jamie Leto told the Chippewa County Board of Supervisors that multiple open-records requests she filed were diverted from the statutory records custodian and placed under control of the county attorney.
"The public's right to access government records is being blocked and delayed in a way that violates Wisconsin open records law," Leto said. She said every one of her requests "has been diverted away from the legal records custodian and placed under the control of the county attorney," and that none had been processed "according to statute." She described the pattern as creating "a built-in conflict of interest" because the county attorney's role is to defend the county rather than serve as records custodian.
Leto said several of the matters concern incidents at her property that she believes fall under a six-year statute of limitations and asked whether the district attorney had been notified. She asked the board to provide written answers to a set of specific questions, including:
- Why were the requests diverted from the records custodian? - Who authorized the county attorney to take control of the requests? - Why are the requests past the legal response time without lawful explanation? - When will the proper custodian resume statutory duties? - Was the district attorney ever notified about incidents on the speaker's property, and if not, why not?
Leto told the board she is documenting every missed deadline and "every improper rerouting," and said federal discovery ultimately would make the records public if the perceived delays continue. She closed by urging the board's elected supervisors to take action to restore transparency and accountability.
Board members acknowledged the comment during later administrative discussion and asked staff and county counsel to consider how to respond appropriately in light of possible pending litigation and personnel or legal sensitivities.
Provenance: Public comment begins at the members-wishing-to-be-heard item and includes the speaker's full statement and the clerk receiving the materials for the record.
