State Ex Rel. Gehl v. Connors

¶ 1. David Gehl appeals from an order denying his petition for a writ of mandamus seeking email communications from Dane County officials under the public records law. He asserts that, prior to the time of his request, the County improperly deleted emails that may have been responsive to his request, and he seeks access to whatever portion of the deleted emails that may still exist on discarded backup tapes in order to demonstrate that the records were not retained as required by law. We conclude that the County's alleged records retention violations cannot be reached through a claim under…