Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 230.81

  • Agency: means any board, commission, committee, council, or department in state government or a unit thereof created by the constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, department, unit, or the head thereof, is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the constitution or statute, except the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department, or unit thereof or an authority created under subch. See Wisconsin Statutes 230.03
  • Division: means the division of personnel management in the department of administration. See Wisconsin Statutes 230.03
  • Division of equal rights: means the division of equal rights in the department of workforce development. See Wisconsin Statutes 230.03
  • Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols or figures. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • State: when applied to states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
   (1)    An employee with knowledge of information the disclosure of which is not expressly prohibited by state or federal law, rule or regulation may disclose that information to any other person. However, to obtain protection under s. 230.83, before disclosing that information to any person other than his or her attorney, collective bargaining representative or legislator, the employee shall do either of the following:
      (a)    Disclose the information in writing to the employee’s supervisor.
      (b)    After asking the division of equal rights which governmental unit is appropriate to receive the information, disclose the information in writing only to the governmental unit that the division of equal rights determines is appropriate. The division of equal rights may not designate the department of justice, the courts, the legislature or a service agency under subch. IV of ch. 13 as an appropriate governmental unit to receive information. Each appropriate governmental unit shall designate an employee to receive information under this section.
   (2)   Nothing in this section prohibits an employee from disclosing information to an appropriate law enforcement agency, a state or federal district attorney in whose jurisdiction the crime is alleged to have occurred, a state or federal grand jury or a judge in a proceeding commenced under s. 968.26, or disclosing information pursuant to any subpoena issued by any person authorized to issue subpoenas under s. 885.01. Any such disclosure of information is a lawful disclosure under this section and is protected under s. 230.83.
   (3)   Any disclosure of information by an employee to his or her attorney, collective bargaining representative or legislator or to a legislative committee or legislative service agency is a lawful disclosure under this section and is protected under s. 230.83.