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Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim has formally ordered prosecutors in a John Doe investigation into aides of Gov. Scott Walker to return records without delay to Milwaukee County.

The written ruling, made public Monday, sets in motion a process where officials will return tens of thousands of documents, including emails, making them subject for open records requests.

Nettesheim, who oversaw the 33-month secret investigation that closed in March 2013, previously announced his decision from the bench late last month.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had filed a motion with the judge to unseal the records, which had been protected under a secrecy order.

According to Nettesheim's order, the documents include items created by county employees during the course of the Milwaukee County business day, and items related to official county business irrespective of when they were created or transmitted.

In his order, Nettesheim said the public's interest in information about the official acts of government "outweighs the government's interest in the maintenance of the Secrecy Order concerning public records."

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele pledged last week to deal with the open records requests in a nonpartisan way. He gave a ballpark figure of $500,000 as the cost to the county for reviewing records for release.

The investigation led to the convictions of six individuals including two Walker aides, an appointee and a major campaign contributor.