DPI sued over $34,000 open records fee

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A law firm sued the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on June 30, claiming the agency is violating state open records law by charging “exorbitant” fees.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty alleges the DPI is “effectively hiding public records behind an illegal” $34,014 fee. In a statement, WILL said the law firm in August 2025 requested from the DPI records of applicants since 2018 who were denied educator licenses for failing to complete an approved program, a DPI-approved educator preparation program that meets specific criteria.

WILL said the DPI acknowledged it had located 1,381 denied applications but charged more than $17,000 to review the files by hand, at $49.26 per hour. The DPI later increased the cost of the records to over $34,000 after WILL attempted to narrow its request, the law firm said.

“An informed electorate is essential to representative government, which is why Wisconsin law strongly favors public access to government records,” said WILL associate counsel Lauren Greuel. “After months of delay, DPI is attempting to price the public out of that access by imposing tens of thousands of dollars in unlawful fees. Government transparency cannot depend on whether citizens can afford to pay for it.”

Under Wisconsin open records law, the public may inspect or obtain records from government authorities. A government agency may charge for the costs associated with searching, examining or locating records if they exceed $50.

“Only actual, necessary, and direct location costs are permitted,” the state Department of Justice’s Office of Open Government said in a guide on the state’s public records law.

On April 17, DPI general counsel Kyle Olson said in an email to WILL that the agency’s “current licensing system is dated and cumbersome.” He said a DPI employee would need to screenshot each application, as well as download and organize attachments uploaded by applicants.

Olson estimated the process would take 30 minutes per application.

WILL argues that digitally copying each denied application and reviewing each by hand “are not actual, necessary and direct costs the DPI may impose.”

“Even if the DPI could charge for those tasks, DPI’s unreasonable delay in responding to the request, coupled with its excessive $34,014 fee, amounts to an unlawful denial of access to public records,” the law firm said.

WILL is asking the court to order the DPI to immediately hand over the requested records without the fees.

“While the process DPI has described could provide the records WILL is seeking, it seems unlikely, if not nearly impossible, that this is the only way to produce these records,” the law firm said in its complaint. “It appears that the DPI has chosen the most cumbersome and expensive way to reproduce the records.”

DPI spokesperson Alison Parkins said she was unable to comment in detail due to pending litigation but said the estimate “reflects the time and resources required to produce the requested records” under Wisconsin’s public records law.

WILL’s lawsuit follows a separate case from the conservative nonprofit Institute for Reforming Government, which sued the DPI in June over alleged open meetings law violations.

“Defending lawsuits from special interest groups such as this requires taxpayer-funded resources that are diverted from our core mission of supporting Wisconsin schools, educators, and students,” Parkins said.