WisDOT releases records, pays legal fees after lawsuit from The Badger Project

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation twice refused to release records pertaining to a former State Patrol officer, so The Badger Project sued. Two weeks later, the department agreed to release them.

By Annie Pulley, THE BADGER PROJECT

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation agreed to settle an open records lawsuit less than two weeks after The Badger Project originally sued the department in Dane County Court for documents pertaining to an investigation of a State Patrol officer who was fired in 2023.

Earlier this year, The Badger Project twice requested records from the Department of Transportation, the State Patrol’s parent organization, for documents relating to the investigation of former state trooper Keegan Williams. He was “terminated for cause” in 2023, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and now works for the Delavan Police Department.

The department initially denied both requests, saying “that the general public interest in access to records in this case is outweighed by the public policy” outlined in Wisconsin open records law. The Badger Project then filed a lawsuit Aug. 1. The department signed the settlement Aug. 12.

Holly Fulkerson, assistant general counsel for the state Department of Transportation, said the Williams case had mistakenly been logged in their system as “an open investigation,” which would have exempted it from the open records law. After The Badger Project filed its lawsuit, they realized it was no longer active, and determined that “release would be appropriate,” she said.

The department will move to release Williams’ records after giving him the required time to challenge the decision in court. As is stipulated in state law, the department also agreed to repay The Badger Project’s nearly $1,300 in legal fees.

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 have found that wandering officers are more likely to commit misconduct again compared to rookies and veteran officers with clean records,” said Peter Cameron, managing editor of The Badger Project. “Everyone deserves a second chance, but communities are best served when they know who is policing them, especially if they are a wandering officer. The Badger Project’s work in this area aims to give them that transparency.”

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 has successfully sued the La Crosse and Wausau police departments for similar records. It is also suing the state’s Department of Justice for a comprehensive list of police officers across Wisconsin and has filed suit against the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office for records into a former sheriff’s deputy. 

“There is a disturbing trend of law enforcement agencies issuing blanket denials for internal investigation records,” said Tom Kamenick, the president and founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, the law firm that represents The Badger Project. “Court after court has said that only minimal amounts of information in these records can be redacted, but law enforcement agencies routinely ignore those cases.”

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