Three UW-Milwaukee journalism students want Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to decide if student governments must abide by public record and open meeting laws.

The students submitted a formal request for a legal opinion to Van Hollen’s staff Wednesday, said Jonathan Anderson, editor-in-chief at the UW-Milwaukee Post.

The request was prompted by two incidents involving UW-Milwaukee’s student government last year, Anderson said.
He said the Student Association would not release records about a trip the group had taken and told the student news program, PantherVision, that they couldn’t film a meeting.

A call to the Student Association was not immediately returned.

There has never been a published legal opinion analyzing whether student governments must comply with open records laws in Wisconsin, Anderson said.

“This isn’t adversarial against student government,” Anderson said. “We’re just trying to get clarity on the law.”

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