The Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday issued a ruling limiting when people who sue over open records requests can recover attorney's fees, a decision that the court's liberals and advocates for open government decried as gutting the law.

An Ozaukee County village must pay at least part of its former trustee's attorney fees, costs and statutory damages in an open-records lawsuit, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday.

A Madison resident is suing the Madison Metropolitan School District under open-records laws to obtain information about the district's Board of Education, school improvement plans, reading curriculum and other records.