Conservative law firm sues Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski for release of records into her appointment

MADISON – A conservative law group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski seeking information about her appointment to the position earlier this year.

The lawsuit, filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty on behalf of the right-wing nonprofit Institute for Reforming Government, alleges Godlewski's office has illegally delayed a public request for information about her appointment submitted nearly six months ago.

WILL and the IRG asked the Waukesha County Court for an order requiring Godlewski to release the records and pay damages of $100 as well as related attorney's fees.

“Transparent and accountable government is not a suggestion, but a vital principle to preserving our democracy," Lucas Vebber, WILL deputy counsel, said in a statement Tuesday. "When state bureaucrats skirt open records requests from the public, WILL is ready to fight back and hold them accountable."

Anthony LoCoco, IRG chief legal counsel and director of oversight, submitted a public records request in March for a year of communications between Gov. Tony Evers, former Secretary of State Doug La Follette and Godlewski, all of whom are Democrats.

State officials maintained "deafening silence" on LoCoco's inquiry despite numerous requests for updates, according to WILL and the IRG.

"The Secretary of State’s inability or unwillingness to fulfill a simple open records request despite having five months to do so is emblematic of the Evers’ administration’s shoddy record on transparency," LoCoco said. "This lawsuit will hopefully serve as a reminder to executive branch bureaucrats that compliance with the public records law is not optional.”

Godlewski said Tuesday her office does not have any responsive records for LoCoco's request and is seeking state Department of Justice assistance to properly handle the lawsuit.

"We do our best to respond to records requests as soon as practicable," Godlewski said. "Despite this conspiracy fishing expedition from partisan groups, my office will continue to work diligently to modernize and best serve Wisconsinites.”

According to the Secretary of State's office, Godlewski is not legally required to answer LoCoco's request because the records he requested did not exist.

Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council president, agreed the decision not to respond was likely legal.

However, he said ignoring requests when relevant records don't exist is an uncommon and discourteous practice that leaves people seeking public information without answers.

"It's a jerk move," Lueders said.

Request went ignored despite promise to respond 'soon'

LoCoco's initial request on March 17 and a follow-up email on March 23 received no response, according to records provided with the lawsuit. He spoke with a staffer at the end of March to confirm the status of his request before sending two more follow-up emails on April 27 and May 9, which also received no response.

The Secretary of State's office responded by email for the first time on May 25, more than two months after LoCoco's initial request. Godlewski's office promised an answer to his request "soon" but has not responded since then, LoCoco said.

Evers appointed Godlewski as Secretary of State in March following La Follette's decision to resign after nearly 50 years in the office. Godlewski, who served as state Treasurer from 2019 to 2023, at the time told Spectrum News her appointment was a "complete surprise."

Republicans in response said Evers' decision to appoint Godlewski without a special election was undemocratic despite it being within the governor's constitutional authority.

Former state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, who narrowly lost to La Follette in November, questioned the timing of La Follette's resignation and accused Evers of conspiring with La Follette and Godlewski.

Conservative groups and good government advocates including WILL and the IRG have long criticized the Evers administration on transparency.

Evers sparked uproar from the groups in 2019 when he removed public records response time data from a public-facing website. Evers at the time promised to explore better alternatives but has yet to announce a replacement.

Hannah Menchoff, Godlewski's communications director, told the Journal Sentinel in July their office does not track records response time data.

State agencies under Evers have overall responded to public records requests within a week, according to data obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

However, there are some instances of agencies taking months or over a year to respond to some requests. For example, a 2022 report from the state Department of Justice indicated some requests to the agency went unfulfilled for over a year.

IRG also submitted a request to the Department of Natural Resources regarding gray wolf management that is still pending after nearly six months, according to WILL.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Godlewski sued for records into secretary of state appointment