A Wisconsin official "may have illegally hidden the full extent" of the discharge of his public duties by communicating about those duties by private texts. The official "was legally obligated to retain and disclose this message.

A lawsuit seeks to hold the official "accountable by obtaining records that we all have a right to see.[The official] is not respecting the state's open government traditions.

"The case involving [the official] points to ways to better implement the public records law to avoid litigation. He regularly communicated about [public] business on personal email and text. Of course, he is not alone in using personal accounts for public business, which is not illegal, even though all such communications are still public records.

"Officials should be discouraged from this practice. When public records exist on private accounts, we are forced to rely on the word of the official who created the records. Public agencies should consider requiring officials who created public records on personal accounts to attest under oath that they complied with their duties to search for and disclose records. Doing so would make officials think twice before attempting to skirt the law and it would promote transparency."