Public Access

The Wisconsin Public Records Law authorizes requestors to inspect or obtain copies of records maintained by government authorities.

Policy

For further information on how the Wisconsin public records law is administered at Village Hall, please refer to our adopted public records request policy.

Exceptions

Records are presumed to be open to inspection to the general public, but there are some exceptions where information is legally required to be withheld. Requirements of the public records law applies to records that exist only at the time a public records request or open records request is made. The public records law does not require authorities to provide requested information if no responsive record exists, and does not require authorities to create new records in order to fulfill public records requests.

Each member of the Village staff, Village Board of Trustees, and appointed officials are the legal custodian of their own records. Therefore, requests for public records pertaining to a specific department should be made to that specific department but may be given to any Village staff member for processing. Ideally the response time to a public records request is 10 days, but is ultimately contingent upon staff time and resources.

Village of Thiensville Open Records Request Form