GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A Brown County Circuit Court judge is allowing the West Allis Police Department access to audio recordings from Green Bay City Hall as part of an investigation to find out whether criminal charges should be filed against anyone from the city.
In early March, Judge Marc Hammer ordered surveillance microphones in the hallways of city hall to be turned off and any recordings from them to be sealed.
On Friday, Hammer issued an order allowing the West Allis Police Department to access them, but all media must remain confidential to the department’s investigators on the case.
Privacy concerns were raised earlier this year when it was made public that the city added microphones to the city hall surveillance system.
On a 9 to 3 vote, the city council decided to remove the audio recording equipment and to have any recordings from them be destroyed once a civil lawsuit on the matter is resolved.
The lawsuit led by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate has not reached a resolution.
The West Allis Police Department says it does not have a timeline for when a decision will be made on whether to refer criminal charges to Brown County’s district attorney.
Under state law, one party to a private conversation must consent for it to be recorded as long as there is reasonable expectation for privacy. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend there is an expectation for privacy in the hallways of city hall, while Mayor Eric Genrich’s administration maintains there is no expectation of privacy in the hallways.
