The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is dragging its feet on releasing emails related to the hit series “Making a Murderer,” according to USA Today.
It’s been eight weeks since USA Today requested the emails and four weeks since the paper agreed to pay $220.60 for PDF copies of the communications sent or received by prison officials regarding the Netflix docu-series. Those records have yet to be released, and no date has been provided.
According to USA Today, the only requirement by state law is that the agencies release the documents “as soon as practicable and without delay.”
The request included emails associated with more than a dozen email accounts including the key phrases “Netflix,” “Making a Murderer,” “Avery” or “Dassey,” which the Department of Corrections estimated would total upwards of 4,000 pages.
Netflix is the streaming service that produced the hit series, which explores the conviction of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey for the October 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach.
In response to the delay, the paper agreed to narrow its search, which would save time by requiring prison officials to examine and redact sensitive information on fewer documents.
“DOC is committed to providing a comprehensive response to all records requests,” department spokesman Jeff Grothman told USA Today following the initial request. “As part of this process in response to your request for e-mails, we review the responsive records to determine whether the record includes information that is exempt from release under the open records law, which may include instances of attorney-client privilege, protected health information, personally identifiable information, or other exemptions.”