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County trainers warn supervisors: 'Everything you do on social media is a public record'
Summary
Walworth County staff led a training June 9 for supervisors on social media, open‑meetings law, first‑amendment auditors and ethics, warning that posts are public records and offering practical steps to reduce legal and reputational risk.
Walworth County staff conducted a training session for county supervisors on June 9 covering social media best practices, open‑meetings compliance, first‑amendment auditors and the county code of ethics.
Jenny Quill, who led the social‑media portion, said social platforms have effectively become public forums and warned supervisors that posts made in their official capacity are public records and should be retained. "Everything that you do on social media is a public record," she said, and recommended that supervisors share or link to official county posts rather than recreating announcements on personal accounts. Quill advised retaining social‑media records for the duration of a supervisor’s term plus one year and cautioned against using platforms such as Snapchat for official business because of retention challenges.
Haley Johnson and other presenters described practical compliance steps: avoid conducting official business in private comment threads or direct messages, separate personal and campaign accounts from official accounts, and use consistent, viewpoint‑neutral comment‑management policies. The presenters emphasized ADA considerations for posting images and advised linking back to county resources so members of the public can follow up.
The training also covered so‑called "1st Amendment auditors"—individuals who film public areas and often seek confrontations for online views. Presenters urged a calm, professional response and suggested clear signage about authorized public areas and limits. They provided examples from other Wisconsin jurisdictions in which confrontations went viral and contrasted those with a local example in which a measured deputy response produced a short, low‑interest video.
On ethics, presenters handed out the relevant state statute excerpts and reminded supervisors not to use their positions for personal or family gain, recounting historical county incidents to illustrate pitfalls. They advised supervisors to defer litigation‑related queries to corporation counsel and to report concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
The session ran past its intended half‑hour and the board completed other agenda items afterward. The training did not produce a new county policy at the June 9 meeting; rather, staff distributed guidance materials and invited follow‑up with corporation counsel or county communications staff for case‑specific questions.
