Wis. Stat. » CHAPTER 19 — GENERAL DUTIES OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS
Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 19.83 (2026)

Meetings of governmental bodies

✓ current as of July 2026
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19.8319.83 Meetings of governmental bodies.
19.83(1)(1) Every meeting of a governmental body shall be preceded by public notice as provided in s. 19.84, and shall be held in open session. At any meeting of a governmental body, all discussion shall be held and all action of any kind, formal or informal, shall be initiated, deliberated upon and acted upon only in open session except as provided in s. 19.85.
19.83(2)(2) During a period of public comment under s. 19.84 (2), a governmental body may discuss any matter raised by the public.
19.83 HistoryHistory: 1975 c. 426; 1997 a. 123.
19.83 AnnotationWhen a quorum of a governmental body attends the meeting of another governmental body when any one of the members is not also a member of the second body, the gathering is a “meeting” unless the gathering is social or by chance. State ex rel. Badke v. Village Board, 173 Wis. 2d 553, 494 N.W.2d 408 (1993).
19.83 AnnotationCompliance with s. 19.88 (3) does not immunize officials’ conduct in violation of sub. (1). State ex rel. Wied v. Wheeler, 2025 WI App 16, 415 Wis. 2d 542, 19 N.W.3d 686, 22-1953.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 21 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1979–2026 · leading case: State v. Beaver Dam Area Dev. Corp., 2008 WI 90 (Wis. 2008).
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State v. Beaver Dam Area Dev. Corp., 2008 WI 90 (Wis. 2008). · cites it 10× “Wis. Stat. § 19.83 . Wis. Stat. §§ 19.33-19.”
State Ex Rel. Auchinleck v. Town of LaGrange, 547 N.W.2d 587 (Wis. 1996). · cites it 4× “97 (1), (4), 3 alleging that this meeting was closed in violation of Wis. Stat. § 19.83 . 4 (Walworth County Circuit Court Case No.”
Newspapers, Inc. v. Breier, 279 N.W.2d 179 (Wis. 1979). · cites it 2× “NOTES [1] Sec. 19.83, Stats., is the current provision setting out the general rule that meetings of governmental bodies must be open.”
State ex rel. Ozanne v. Fitzgerald, 2011 WI 43 (Wis. 2011). · cites it 3× “A violation of the Open Meetings Law occurred when the Joint Committee of Conference met on March 9, 2011, and failed to provide reasonable public access to the meeting, as required by Wis. Stat. § 19.83 (1). ¶ 53. The circuit court acknowledged that Senate Chief Clerk Robert…”
State Ex Rel. Hodge v. Town of Turtle Lake, 508 N.W.2d 603 (Wis. 1993). · cites it 3× “" The application and granting of.a permit by a town board falls within the purview of this mandate in every respect.”
State Ex Rel. Olson v. City of Baraboo Jt. Review Bd., 2002 WI App 64 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 3× “§ 19.83, all meetings held by a governmental body in Wisconsin must be preceded by public notice.”
State Ex Rel. Mirbeau of Geneva Lake, LLC v. City of Lake Geneva, 746 F. Supp. 2d 1000 (E.D. Wis. 2010). · cites it 2× “35 , and the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law, Wis. Stat. §§ 19.83 and 19.84. Id. ¶¶ 85-105 .”
State Ex Rel. Schaeve v. Van Lare, 370 N.W.2d 271 (Wis. Ct. App. 1985). · cites it 2× “Every meeting of a governmental body must be preceded by public notice and must be held in open session unless an exemption under sec.”
State Ex Rel. Journal/Sentinel, Inc. v. Pleva, 456 N.W.2d 359 (Wis. 1990). “It is sec. 19.83, Stats., which specifically refers to the "procedure" of opening meetings to the public.”
Paulton v. Volkmann, 415 N.W.2d 528 (Wis. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 4× “Section 19.83, Stats. A meeting occurs when members of a governmental body convene for "the purpose of exercising the responsibilities, authority, power or duties delegated to or vested in the body.”
Sands v. Whitnall Sch. Dist., 2007 WI App 3 (Wis. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 3× “§ 19.83. The legislature provided exceptions to the general rule in WIS.”
State Ex Rel. Krueger v. Appleton Area Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 2017 WI 70 (Wis. 2017). · cites it 4× “Wis. Stat. § 19.83 (1). "Governmental body" is defined in § 19.”
Show all 21 citing cases →
— Wis. Stat. § 19.83(1) — 6 cases
State ex rel. Ozanne v. Fitzgerald, 2011 WI 43 (Wis. 2011). “A violation of the Open Meetings Law occurred when the Joint Committee of Conference met on March 9, 2011, and failed to provide reasonable public access to the meeting, as required by Wis. Stat. § 19.83 (1). ¶ 53. The circuit court acknowledged that Senate Chief Clerk Robert…”
Plourde Ex Rel. State v. Habhegger, 2006 WI App 147 (Wis. Ct. App. 2006).
Leanne Wied v. Scott Wheeler (Wis. Ct. App. 2025).
Heather Holmes v. City of Rhinelander City Council (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).
Great Lakes Wildlife All. v. Wisconsin Nat. Resources Bd. (Wis. Ct. App. 2026).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.