Public Notice: Access to Records
You have a right to inspect and copy certain records under Wisconsin’s Public Records Law,
§§ 19.31-19.39, Wis. Stats. This notice is provided pursuant to
§ 19.34, Wis. Stats.
Division Description
The Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA) is an independent agency attached for administrative purposes to the Department of Administration. Created by
Wis. Stats. §§ 15.103(1) and
301.035, DHA conducts administrative hearings for other state agencies and departments. DHA has offices in Madison, Milwaukee, and Appleton and is comprised of four units:
General Government,
Corrections,
Work and Family Services (WFS), and
Workers' Compensation. The Division Administrator is a state public official.
Decisions and Statistics
Please note that it is not necessary to make an open records request in order to access administrative decisions for certain DHA case types. Decisions for WFS (2012 to present), DNR, and DOT cases can be found on the DHA website
here. In addition, statistical information for each DHA unit can be found on the Division's website
here.
Procedure for Making Open Records Requests
Under the authority of
Chapter 19 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the Division Administrator is the legal custodian of DHA’s records. To facilitate access to records, the authority of the records custodian has been delegated to DHA’s Administrative Program Management Supervisor. Requests for access to DHA’s public records should be directed to:
Division of Hearings and Appeals
Ashley Schmit, Legal Associate Supervisor
4822 Madison Yards Way, 5th Floor North
Madison, WI 53705-7875
DHAMail@Wisconsin.gov
The Division’s normal business hours are 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Requests may be made verbally or in writing and must be reasonably specific as to subject matter and time period. As soon as practicable and without delay, the custodian will notify the requestor of the availability of the requested records or deny the request in whole or in part if the records do not exist or are not accessible under the public records law. The requestor has the right to receive a denial in writing. The length of time it takes the custodian to respond to the request depends upon factors including the nature and extent of the request and the availability of staff and other resources necessary to process the request.
Fees
DHA may charge the actual, necessary, and direct costs of locating, reproducing, and mailing or shipping a record. The fees will be calculated based on the salary of the lowest paid staff member capable of performing the work. Checks should be made payable to the Wisconsin Department of Administration. DHA may require pre-payment of fees if the total cost of a request exceeds $20.00.
When requested and whenever possible, DHA will provide electronic copies of records that are already in electronic format on a CD for $10.00 per CD, without charging reproduction fees on a per-page basis. A requestor may also receive documents in PDF format on a CD for $10.00 per CD. Requests that require reproduction of five pages or more will be provided at a charge of $0.25 per page. The audio record of a digitally-recorded hearing will be provided on a CD at a cost of $10.00 per CD. If a request is for records that are stored off site, the requestor will be charged for the actual cost of retrieving and reproducing the records, as well as the cost of mailing the records. The fee for transcript production is $3.40 per page of transcribed material. Second copies and requests for previously transcribed material will be provided at a charge of $0.10 per page of material. This cost is in addition to a preparation fee if the record has not been previously transcribed.