(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Department of Administration is facing a new lawsuit over redactions to police reports released by capitol police that include accusations made by state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, against fellow Democrats.
In March, the lawmaker agreed to plea guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and pay a $300 fine after she was charged following a Sept. 2, 2025, phone call where she reportedly threatened another member of the Assembly that she would “tell the press negative personal information” if she was not included in writing a Joint Resolution honoring Latino veterans.
Attorney Tom Kamenick of the Wisconsin Transparency Project filed the lawsuit on behalf of Wisconsin Right Now and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this week.
"A sitting legislator was criminally convicted based on an investigation that was kept entirely secret until the criminal complaint was filed,” Kemenick said in a statement to Wisconsin Right Now. “The criminal complaint itself was vague and obscured not only who had made the accusations against Ortiz-Velez, but what misconduct Ortiz-Velez had accused the other legislators of committing.
“The records DOA finally released redact the same information. This whole case is a travesty of transparency."
The Milwaukee complaint stated that Ortiz-Velez felt she was intentionally left out of writing a resolution despite the fact that her late husband was a Latino veteran.
The complaint was filed in Milwaukee because both representatives live in Milwaukee and both were in Milwaukee when the phone call occurred.
Ortiz-Velez was accused of making comments to Democratic colleagues that she would use an assault-style firearm against them but the comments were deemed a not credible threat by capitol police.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.