Wisconsin’s open meeting law

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: State of Wisconsin ex rel. John Krueger v. Appleton Area School District Board of Education et al.

Case No.: 2017 WI 70

Focus: Wisconsin’s open meeting law

This case requires us to decide whether the Appleton Area School District’s Communications Arts 1 Materials Review Committee (“CAMRC”) was a governmental body subject to Wisconsin’s open meetings law. John Krueger, the parent of a child who attended school in the District, sued CAMRC and the Appleton Area School District Board of Education (the “Board”), alleging that CAMRC failed to comply with the open meetings law. The Outagamie County circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the Board and CAMRC, concluding that CAMRC was not subject to the open meetings law. We now review the unpublished decision of the court of appeals that affirmed the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment. We reverse the decision of the court of appeals and hold that CAMRC met the definition of “governmental body” under the open meetings law and therefore was subject to its terms. See Wis. Stat. § 19.82(1) (2011-12). Where a governmental entity adopts a rule authorizing the formation of committees and conferring on them the power to take collective action, such committees are “created by . . . rule” under § 19.82(1) and the open meetings law applies to them. Here, the Board’s Rule 361 provided that the review of educational materials should be done according to the Board-approved Assessment, Curriculum, & Instruction Handbook (the “Handbook”). The Handbook, in turn, authorized the formation of committees with a defined membership and the power to review educational materials and make formal recommendations for Board approval. Because CAMRC was formed as one of these committees, pursuant to authority delegated to it by the Board by means of Rule 361 and the Handbook, it was “created by . . . rule” and therefore was a “governmental body” under § 19.82(1).

Reversed and remanded

Dissent:

Concurring: Abrahamson, A.W. Bradley

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.