Daniel Bice

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

What goes on at the state Department of Justice stays in the state Department of Justice.

So says Attorney General Brad Schimel.

On Aug. 10, staffers at his agency were sent an email instructing them to sign a nondisclosure agreement barring them from revealing any confidential information about their work — not just during their time in office but even after they leave the state.

The email then included a spreadsheet with the names of 129 employees who had yet to sign the one-page statement.

"If your name is on the attached list, please print and sign the attached Agreement," the email says.

According to a copy of the agreement, it applies not just to current full-time employees but also "limited term employees, contractors, interns, externs and law enforcement partners."

Rebecca Ballweg, spokeswoman for the agency, said the requirement is not tied to the fact that Schimel is in a tough political campaign. Schimel, a Republican, is being opposed by Democratic candidate Josh Kaul.

"There were absolutely no political considerations involved in updating or requiring the policy" Ballweg said. She said she is unaware of any other state agency that requires all staffers to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

President Donald Trump has come under fire nationally for his aggressive use of such agreements to try to prevent government employees from revealing secrets or disparaging him or his family.

Not that it has kept former senior aide Omarosa Manigault Newman from writing a tell-all book and dozens of Trump officials from cooperating with journalist Bob Woodward for his book "Fear: Trump in the White House."

Besides, legal experts have said the First Amendment protects government workers against attempts by the government to restrict their speech.

"A public employee can’t be forced to sign away the right to speak," University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster told the Washington Post in March.

Explaining the need for such agreements at the state Justice Department, Ballweg emphasized that employees deal regularly with sensitive and confidential information.

"There are a number of ethical rules and statutes that bar different employees at DOJ from releasing certain information," she said in an email.

For instance, workers at the Justice Department's State Crime Laboratory are barred by law from releasing privileged information. Another law prevents those in the Office of Crime Victim Services from sharing complaints or confidential matters.

Last year, Ballweg said, human resources staffers at the Justice Department realized different bureaus and offices were using different nondisclosure agreements. So a uniform agreement was drafted in May 2017 and all 757 staffers have been asked to sign it.

"DOJ employees have been very cooperative in returning the signed form," Ballweg said.

But that's not the impression of one former Justice Department official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive subject.

"Why would I sign that?" the former staffer said. "To protect Brad Schimel? It's probably not even legal."

Told that the new agreement was finalized a month after Kaul got into the AG's race, Ballweg said there was no connection between the two.

Human resources officials began working on a department-wide confidentiality agreement she said after a DOJ employee posted "criminal justice information" regarding an ongoing criminal case to a social media website.

Ballweg added that no political appointees were on the working group for the agreement.

What's not clear from the agreements is whether they are intended to prevent whistleblowers from stepping forward or other former workers from criticizing the agency.

Former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall is sharply critical of Schimel and Gov. Scott Walker for their handling of problems at Lincoln Hills School for Boys, a juvenile prison north of Wausau that has been under criminal investigation for three years.

Schimel fired Wall from the Justice Department in 2016 after he told a Walker aide he should feel free to destroy a document. Wall writes in his book that that incident was misconstrued.

Without explanation, Ballweg said: "These agreements would not prevent a whistleblower from coming forward with information."

What's more, no punishment is provided for violating the agreement by a current or former staffer.

Ballweg said someone who releases confidential information could be guilty of a "work rule violation."

"It would most likely be dealt with on a case-by-case basis," she added. "For example, state statute may require other sanctions be taken."

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That raises the question: If there is already a law barring such violations, why is the nondisclosure agreement needed?

Anyway, the goal is to get all justice agency employees to sign the agreements. That would include, presumably, employees in the Justice Department's Office of Open Government, which has a mission of preserving "the proud tradition of open government in Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin's open government laws promote democracy by ensuring that all state, regional and local governments conduct their business with transparency," its website says, adding that state residents have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

Hard to believe that comes from the same agency that requires its workers to sign confidentiality agreements.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.