Hobart-Lawrence police are temporarily holding back records from the Josh Jacobs battery case after attorneys for people named in those files said they intend to ask a judge to block disclosure. The delay keeps key video and reports out of public view while the NFL continues its personal-conduct review and the Packers running back stays on the commissioner’s exempt list.
In a letter tied to open-records requests, the department said it finished a court-ordered review and decided that certain records could go out with redactions. After it notified the record subjects on October 5, lawyers replied that they plan to seek judicial orders restraining disclosure. Wisconsin’s waiting period and any related court filings now keep all responsive records withheld for the time being.
What police say they would release
The department has identified police reports, body-worn camera recordings and squad camera recordings as files it believes can be released with redactions. Whether home surveillance video from the May 23 incident will be included remains unclear. No hearings on a block request have been scheduled yet in public court records.
The hold is not a denial of the requests and does not reverse the balancing-test decision that some material can go out, the letter said. Officials plan further updates once the statutory process and any court orders allow release.
Why it matters for the NFL case
Ian Rapoport reported in late September that the league had formally asked to view video from the incident while Jacobs remained on the exempt list. That list bars him from practices and games; he can still do individual work and meetings with club permission. Time on the list can count toward any later suspension under the collective bargaining agreement.
League spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the matter remains under review of the personal conduct policy and declined further comment. Jacobs pleaded no contest in September to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property from the May altercation at his Hobart home, paid a $1,000 fine and entered a deferred judgment agreement on the property charge. He has already missed five games while the league investigation continues.
Adam Schefter has noted that some league sources expect exempt-list time to count as time served if discipline follows. With records still locked behind the temporary hold, neither the public nor, for now, outside observers can see when the video evidence the league has sought will move. The Packers host the Cowboys on Sunday night without their starting running back, and there is still no published timetable for his return.
Rob Demovsky reported that the police letter also answered a media open-records request: the department found that certain records could be released with redactions, but one or more parties signaled they would fight disclosure in court. That fight is what put the temporary hold in place this week.
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