A state trooper was “terminated for cause” in 2023, but has continued to work in law enforcement. The Badger Project argues the DOT’s refusal to release documents related to the case is illegal.

By Annie Pulley, THE BADGER PROJECT

In the second open records case filed in as many months, The Badger Project is suing the Wisconsin Department of Transportation after it refused to release documents relating to a former State Patrol officer who was fired in 2023.

State Trooper Keegan Williams was “terminated for cause” by the Department of Transportation, the parent agency of the State Patrol. That’s according to a Wisconsin Department of Justice database that tracks negative separations of law enforcement officers. Williams was first hired by the department in 2016.

He now works for the Delavan Police Department, where he was hired a few months after his termination.

The Badger Project routinely reports on wandering officers, police and jailers forced out of one law enforcement job who are rehired at another. The Badger Project’s reporting shows that the number of wandering officers in Wisconsin rose by 50% from 2021 to 2024. Studies suggest that wandering officers are more prone to misconduct and discipline at their new jobs.

Before filing the lawsuit in the Dane County Circuit Court, The Badger Project made written records requests in February and May, both of which were denied by the Department of Transportation. The department’s refusal claimed “that the general public interest in access to records in this case is outweighed by the public policy outlined in” Wisconsin open records law.

Tom Kamenick, The Badger Project’s attorney and the founder and president of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, argued in his complaint against the Department of Transportation that its two denials failed to cite specific statutes that would justify nondisclosure in this case.

“The Badger Project has a clear legal right to receive the records it requested, and the Department has a plain legal duty to produce them,” Kamenick wrote.

Disclosure is especially warranted in cases involving wandering officers, he argued. The public has a heightened interest in the activities of its law enforcement officers.

The Badger Project has successfully sued the La Crosse and Wausau police departments for similar records and is actively suing the state’s Department of Justice for a comprehensive list of police officers across Wisconsin. Per state law, government agencies must repay the record requester’s legal fees if they are found to have improperly withheld documents.

The Badger Project’s records lawsuit, filed in August, is likely to get a scheduling conference before a Dane County judge this month, Kamenick said.

Williams was one of three State Patrol officers who shot and killed a robbery suspect after a high-speed chase in 2020. The DOJ said the suspect was armed, had fired at officers and was trying to hijack a vehicle when he was shot. The district attorney in Jefferson County didn’t charge Williams or the other two officers and deemed the situation a lawful use of deadly force. It appears to be unrelated to his termination, which occurred three years later.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.