Open Records Requests
Wisconsin Department of Tourism Public Records Notice
It is the policy of the State of Wisconsin that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them. The Department of Tourism administers the state’s tourism programs and policies. The Department promotes and advertises tourism sites and attractions in Wisconsin in order to attract tourists to and from within the state. It provides a variety of tourist information services to travelers in Wisconsin. It provides consultation, technical assistance, and other services from the tourism industry. The Department conducts tourism research and reports on state economic and other trends affecting Wisconsin tourism. The Department consists of the Office of the Secretary, Bureau of Marketing & Advertising, Bureau of Industry and Agency Services and the Office of Marketing Services. Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Communications Director are state public officials. Anne Sayers, Secretary-designee and legal custodian of Department of Tourism public records has delegated the responsibility to act as legal custodian to Maria Van Hoorn. Members of the public may inspect and copy public records of the Department by making an oral or written request for the specific records sought to Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 3319 West Beltline Hwy, Post Office Box 8690, Madison, Wisconsin, 53708, by email to TourismRecords@travelwisconsin.com or by phone at (608) 266-2345. The public records of the Department of Tourism are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours. Except for legal holidays, those hours are:
- Monday–Friday: 7:45 – 11:45 AM and 12:30 – 4:30 PM
The Department may charge $ .15 per page for photocopies. When requested and whenever practicable, the Department will provide electronic copies of records that already exist in electronic format without charging reproduction fees on a per-page basis. The Department may charge the actual, necessary, and direct cost of any transcription, photographic work or postage. The Department may charge the actual, necessary, and direct costs of locating the records if it exceeds $50. Any staff time for locating records will be billed at the hourly rate of salary and for the lowest-paid employee capable of performing the task. The hourly rate charged for locating records may also include the cost of benefits, but will not exceed $30 per hour. The Department will not charge for the cost of reviewing records for possible redaction or removal of confidential information. Requests which exceed a total cost of $5.00 may require prepayment. All requests will be processed as soon as practicable and without delay.
Privacy and Legal
State of Wisconsin laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records provided by both state and federal laws. These exceptions include the privacy of individuals.
Information collected at this site becomes public record and may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exception in law exists. During your visit to the Department 's Web site, information that is not readily identifiable to an individual is automatically collected and stored. This information is used solely to improve our Web services.