Supervisors should revisit vote on fees

By the Baraboo News Republic Editorial Board

A recent decision by the Sauk County Board doubled the rate the sheriff's department will charge for photocopies of requested records from 25 cents to 50 cents per page. An extra 25 cents per page might not sound like much, but it sets a precedent of restricting access to public information and may well cost taxpayers time and money while the county defends itself in court because of supervisors' misguided decision.

The writing on the wall in this case could not be more clear: Any charges in excess of 25 cents per page are probably illegal. Says who? Well, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's office, for one, and Bill Lueders, the president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, for another. But if supervisors didn't want to listen to those two, they could have listened to one of their own.

At the meeting in which the charge increase was approved, a handful of supervisors spoke out against the increase (10 voted against it.)

"What you're doing here is you're putting another level on freedom of information," said supervisor Robert Sinklair of Prairie du Sac, a law enforcement committee member who voted against the increase. "The taxpayers of this county are already paying for this. Do you want to just keep making (records) less accessible?"

Unfortunately for taxpayers, supervisors' answer was yes, by a 2-1 margin.

Following their decision, Lueders sent a letter to each supervisor urging them to reconsider.

"It is my belief that Sauk County's current policy is in violation of the statute and leaves the county open to legal challenge," Lueders wrote. "Further, it is bad public policy to make it harder for citizens to have information on the actions of public officials."

Before the vote, sheriff's department officials had said the increase was due to "the increased costs of paper, copier purchase, usage and maintenance and staff costs for time spent preparing the records for release."

Makes sense. But it's crystal clear that none of those factors constitute a legal reason to up the rate to more than 25 cents per page. In fact, 25 cents a page may well be the legal maximum that a Wisconsin county can charge.

"It has long been the policy of this office that copy fees should be around $.15 per page and that anything in excess of $.25 may be suspect," wrote Assistant Attorney General Alan Lee in a letter to a taxpayer regarding an open records fee inquiry dated less than three weeks ago. "We generally assume that such a per page charge would include not only the costs of paper but overhead costs as well, including the amount of employee time actually, necessarily, and directly involved in making the copies."

If supervisors want to support the sheriff's department, fine. But in this case, it doesn't matter if this decision came on behalf of the sheriff's department or the highway department or the health department. Such an increase in fees would have been illegal by any and all county departments — again, not according to us, but according to the state attorney general's office, the top cops in the state.

So what? Why should you care? Well, supervisors' decision is one way to limit public access to information on how their taxpayer-funded government operates. A democracy works best when its citizens are well informed and able to keep tabs on those who govern. In today's society, information is power. Public information can empower a citizenry if it's readily accessible.

We second Lueders' strong suggestion that supervisors revisit their vote to double the cost of copy fees at the sheriff's department. The decision rests on weak legal footing at best and sends an awful message to the residents who voted those 20 supervisors into office. If they don't reconsider, it won't be a matter of if the county gets sued, but when.

The News Republic's Editorial Board meets Mondays to discuss issues that matter to the community.