Judicial Council to discuss open-record request

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The Judicial Council plans to use a coming meeting to discuss the best way to respond to a recently received open-records request.

The council,  a 21-member body of lawmakers, judges, lawyers and other stakeholders in the state court system, last month received an open-records request from the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council requesting all records related to 2017 Act 235, including emails between council members and drafts. Act 235, enacted last year, made a slew of changes to the state’s civil-litigation rules, including its rules of civil procedure.

The records request came from the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, one of the biggest supporters of Act 235. Andrew Cook, executive director of the justice council and a lobbyist at Hamilton Consulting Group, made the request on the group’s behalf. The council had asked for more time to study the proposed civil-procedure changes so it could make a recommendation to lawmakers.

The request is one of the item’s on the council’s agenda for its meeting at 9:30 a.m. Friday at 328 North West in the state Capitol.

The council will also be discussing a draft of proposed legislation dealing with the changes that were made to the rules of civil procedure when Act 235 was enacted.

The council will also be discussing its budget request for the next biennium.