MADISON, Wis.
The state asked a judge earlier this week to make public an audit of a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater dean’s spending, saying there is no reason to suppress the record.
UW-Whitewater Dean Lee Jones sued the university and UW System earlier this month to stop the report’s release, arguing that disclosing the record would harm the university’s diversity efforts. Jones, who is Black, has refused to elaborate on how the report would harm diversity.
But no legal justification exists to block the release of the audit, Maureen McGlynn Flanagan, an attorney with the state Department of Justice, which is representing the university and UW System, argued in a court filing this week.
News organizations and Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, have requested copies of the report, which details a lengthy investigation into credit card spending for purchases and travel by Jones’ office.
Flanagan filed a copy of the report under seal as part of her request that Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess declare the document a public record. She also included a copy of a letter from the UW System’s top auditor to Jones stating the university determined the public’s interest is best served by the report’s release.
Niess has 30 days to rule on Jones’ request for an injunction under state law, but he has yet to schedule a hearing on the matter.
