UNDATED (WSAU) – The state has been blocking or delaying the release of dozens of documents detailing problems at the Lincoln Hills juvenile correction center.
A report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says routine Freedom of Information Act requests have been denied. In other cases the newspaper paid processing costs for the state to gather specific information only to have the release of those documents delayed.
One of the requests involves the names of corrections department employees who were under investigation and how much they were paid while on administrative leave. Initially the state said those records were part of an ongoing investigation and would not be made public. The state has since said it will disclose the information, but has not yet done so.
There are two instances where the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was required to pay some of the administrative costs for gathering information it requested. The newspaper paid $157 for the state to gather information about corrections department workers who were under investigation for comments they made on social media. That information still has not been released. The corrections department also said it would cost the newspaper $1,100 to process a request for information about fights at Lincoln Hills. The newspaper has asked for more-limited information while that request is still pending.
The Lincoln Hills School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls are part of a long-running federal investigation that could lead to criminal charges and possible civil rights violations.
