An outbreak of an infectious and often fatal disease among deer in southeastern Wisconsin could affect more deer than previously seen in Wisconsin, according to state wildlife regulators.

The post Wisconsin wildlife regulators confirm often fatal disease in Washington County deer appeared first on WPR.

Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, first introduced a bill to redesignate the Apostle Islands as a national park. While some elected and economic development officials backed the proposal, it was met with immediate pushback from local communities and Lake Superior tribes.

The post Should Apostle Islands be a national park? Some say proposal lacks community buy-in appeared first on WPR.

The prediction market company Novig is preemptively suing Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul in hopes of keeping him from taking legal action to enforce state gambling laws.

The post Prediction market firm sues Kaul to prevent enforcement of Wisconsin gambling law appeared first on WPR.

A truck delivering some of the boats had an accident on US Route 2 in Iron River this week, damaging some of the watercraft. No serious injuries were reported.

The post Highway crash of dragon boat truck won’t sink storied Lake Superior festival appeared first on WPR.

The works on this album make for a complementary, powerful pairing; one that helps mark America’s 250th anniversary with skillfully composed and beautifully performed orchestral pieces created out of widely divergent lives.

The post WPR Music Album of the Week: Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” & Carlos Simon’s “Four Black American Dances” appeared first on WPR.

The author of a newly approved federal grant said this is an opportunity to reverse a critical shortfall of special education teachers in school districts across the state

The post DPI hopes federal grant will help stop ‘revolving door’ of Wisconsin special education teachers appeared first on WPR.

Volunteers and nonprofit leaders in the Fox Valley are turning their attention to rebuilding community as tornado recovery continues.

The post Volunteers helping restore and return photos and heirlooms lost in Menasha tornado appeared first on WPR.

City officials in Green Bay say "human error" by former Clerk Celestine Jeffreys led to hundreds of voters receiving duplicate absentee ballots across two elections this year. 

The post Former Green Bay clerk’s ‘human error’ led to duplicate ballot issues, reports say appeared first on WPR.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into Milwaukee Public Schools related to the district allegedly considering race when it comes to "disciplinary decisions."

The post Federal investigation into Milwaukee Public Schools related to disciplinary decisions and race appeared first on WPR.

Appleton based artist and musician Julia Blair recently debuted a play she created from the ground up, including building the puppets and scoring the music. “The Lonely Marsh” and its characters are based on wetland habitat.

The post In this new Wisconsin play, ‘The Lonely Marsh’ is the main character appeared first on WPR.

This Friday, Michael Maldonado, 47, a resident of the Kettle Moraine Correctional Institute who has been incarcerated for 31 years for a crime he committed when he was 15, will be one of 12 applicants considered by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ Commutation Advisory Board.

Maldonado’s supporters believe he has served more than enough time for his offense and should be released from prison to enter community supervision.

In June 1995, Maldonado was sentenced for first degree intentional homicide in Jefferson County for the April 3, 1994 killing of Ruben Borchardt as part of a plot inspired by his wife, Diane Borchardt, a substitute teacher. Diane Borchardt offered a $600 reward, along with other promised gifts, for killing her husband to Doug E. Vest Jr., 16, a student at Jefferson High School, who recruited Maldonado, Vest’s younger cousin, and another student named Josh Yanke.

Maldonado claimed his role was procuring a sawed-off shotgun used in the killing, but the other two boys testified that Maldonado was also the shooter.

Maldonado was given a life sentence with the first opportunity for parole on April 3, 2044.

Both Vest and Yanke received lighter sentences on homicide charges. Vest got 25 years for first degree homicide and Yanke got 18 years for second degree homicide.

After both Vest and Yanke were paroled from prison, Vest acknowledged via letter that, in fact, he was the shooter and not Maldonado.

On October 9, 2025, Maldonado received a sentence modification, largely due to Vest’s letter, and became eligible for earlier parole; his first parole hearing was in March 2026, where he was given a deferment of 18 months before another hearing.

Maldonado is the only one of three youths who conspired to kill Borchardt who is still incarcerated.

Through a records request to the governor’s office, the Wisconsin Examiner found out  in April that Maldonado was one of two individuals the WISDOM Commutation Group, the advocacy group that has been promoting commutations by Gov. Tony Evers since 2023, had identified for consideration. Commutation is  a form of executive clemency involving a reduction or modification of a sentence.

The Examiner reached out to Maldonado for an interview, but he declined, citing what he called the “delicate process” of the commutation application and not wanting to “ruin any chances I might have.”

The WISDOM presentation said Maldonado and a second man who was also involved in a crime when he was young, “need a second chance because they received disproportionately long sentences for crimes they committed in their youth, back in the 1990s. They deserve a second chance because they have already served so much time and demonstrated so much maturity and good character that they would have qualified for parole before now if the length of their sentence had not ruled out that remedy.”

During his Oct. 9 sentence modification hearing, Robert Henak, the attorney representing Maldonado, made a similar argument before Jefferson County Circuit Judge William V. Gruber:

“Back in 1994, Wisconsin law provided that the first-degree intentional homicide sentence could be as little as 13 years, 4 months before parole eligibility. That is somebody who intentionally takes another life. Not even, you know, necessarily as a party to a crime.”

Henak noted that Vest received twice the minimum sentence at 25 years and Maldonado nearly four times the minimum at 50 years, when he would first become eligible for parole.

The WISDOM Commutation team also noted that for Wisconsin governors through the 1970s and 80s it was “common practice” to commute or reduce “the sentences of prisoners who had been convicted of serious crimes (including first-degree murder), when their behavior behind bars suggested sufficient rehabilitation to return to society as responsible, job-ready, citizens.”

In 2023, Maldonado wrote of his contrition over the crime:

“I was young and foolish, but that is no excuse for my behavior, and I am remorseful for my actions. Throughout my growth and self-identity, I have learned that freedom is a responsibility. Although I did not understand this in my youth, today I take full responsibility for my actions, and I have great appreciation for humanity.”

Maldonado provided his juvenile life sentence commutation application to the Jefferson County Clerk of Court, which the Examiner then obtained via a records request.

The application includes an 11-page memorandum prepared by Zoe Engberg of the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“Based on the erroneous belief that Mr. Maldonado was the shooter, the judge sentenced Mr. Maldonado to a significantly longer sentence than his other teenage co-defendants,” Engberg wrote. “Mr. Maldonado’s sentence was later modified in light of new evidence indicating that Douglas Vest, not Michael Maldonado, was the shooter.”

In the Oct. 9, 2025 transcript of the sentence modification, Judge William Gruber said he also believed sentencing Judge Jacqueline Erwin issued a harsher sentence for Maldonado because she perceived him as the shooter.

“Isn’t that as plain as day that Judge Erwin lengthened the period of ineligibility to parole with respect to Mr. Maldonado because her impression, based upon her exposure over the course of those trials (Vest, Yanke and Diane Borchardt), was that he’s the one who pulled the trigger?” Gruber said.

Engberg summarized Maldonado’s progress and maturation while in prison, where he took  advantage of educational opportunities, worked responsibly, and volunteered.

“Mr. Maldonado has spent his time in prison productively,” wrote Engberg. “He has received extensive praise from Dept. of Corrections staff for his work, including multiple commendations and promotions in a variety of employment positions. He has earned numerous degrees, including his HSED (High School Equivalency Diploma) , multiple vocational degrees, and his associate’s degree. He has also become deeply involved in volunteer pursuits – including building houses for Wisconsin families with Habitat for Humanity, speaking with at-risk youth and training service dogs for Wisconsin community members.”

Judge Gruber, at the sentence modification hearing in 2025, also noted that Maldonado’s “rehabilitative promise is high and I think that’s exceptional.”

Engberg noted that Maldonado had his first parole hearing in March 2026, and he contended that, under normal circumstances, denial of release at the first hearing is typical; he also contended that Maldonado would probably have to appear before the parole board several more times before being released.

“It will probably be many years before Mr. Maldonado completes the requirements imposed by the Parole Board – not because of his lack of effort or because he poses a risk if released – but because of the administrative barriers that stand in his way,” he said. “By the Parole Commission’s own admission, his conduct, program participation, and re-entry plan are all satisfactory for release. The DOC’s risk assessment places him at the lowest possible risk level. Nevertheless, it will likely be years before he is released on parole.”

Engberg also noted that Maldonado’s re-entry plan includes several housing offers, a job offer, and support from the Remington Center, part of the law school.

“Mr Maldonado’s extensive support network is a huge asset to his successful transition back to the community,” wrote Engberg.

Concerning the death of Ruben Borchardt, Maldonado wrote in his application: “Even though I didn’t personally shoot Mr. Brochardt, I am the reason that he died. If I hadn’t given Doug the gun, he wouldn’t have been able to carry out his plan. I am the reason that Mr. Borchardt is dead, just as much as if I had personally pulled the trigger.”

Maldonado recounts that after his 2025 sentence modification hearing, he met with members of the Borchardt family.

“Some of my biggest takeaways from that meeting were how much the Borchardt family continues to struggle with the very real hardships of having their loved one, Ruben (their father, son, brother, uncle, and friend), senselessly taken away from them,” he said. “I could see the sadness and heartache on their faces, and their anger was evident and justified.”

During that Oct. 9 hearing, a victim who is not named in the transcript, who identified as one of Ruben’s children, challenged Maldonado that he hadn’t publicly acknowledged the pain he had caused:

“Even today, as you stand here seeking early release, there has been no complete acknowledgment of the pain that you have caused or the life that you took. Without honesty and accountability, there can be no real healing for you, for us, or for anyone,” and the victim later added, “Your release should not come before repentance.”

The victim asked the court not to approve an early release, but to “let the sentence stand as a reminder that actions have consequences.”

Later in the same hearing, Maldonado apologized to the family and asked for forgiveness.

Asked for reasons he should be given a commutation, Maldonado wrote in his application that as a 47-year-old who has been reflecting on what he did when he was 15, he had matured into a man who is “reliable, responsible, disciplined, caring and loving.”

“Relief from a commutation would allow me to return to the community, family, and friends as a stable, employable, and fully rehabilitated adult who is prepared to contribute to the workforce and society,” he wrote. “My strongest impact will be through consistent employment and the public safety benefits that come from a structured, well-supported, planned re-entry.”

Maldonado added that he understood the “severity of his crime” and his role, but he also believed that justice had been served and would be further realized if he was given the opportunity “to further prove myself and my rehabilitative nature through being granted relief and having my sentence commuted by Governor Evers.”

The Examiner reached out to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s  victim witness program for a statement on Maldonado’s commutation application and also requested help with contacting victims who might want to make a statement. A spokesperson for the DA responded that  its policy is to not issue statements to the press or reveal third-party information. 

Maldonado’s application includes extensive documentation of his education, his volunteer work, and work history while in prison and offers specific details on his re-entry plan, including housing available and a job that is available in Milwaukee

His application also includes 23 letters of support, many from family members, as well as from others who worked with Maldonado in prison or met him while visiting relatives.  

Two letters are from parents, Mary Ann and Spriggie Hensley Sr. whose son was also incarcerated, and who got to know Maldonado over the years.

The package includes a letter from Adan Castellano of Waukegan, Illinois, who spent two years as Maldonado’s cellmate and says he has  seen him accept his circumstances and make decisions to make the best of his life.

There’s also a letter from the WISDOM Commutations Committee, including Beverly Walker, Sherry Reames, Tanya McMahon and Amanda Johnson.

“As the U.S Supreme Court and other authorities have noted, it is unjust to treat juveniles as if they were mature adults with fully developed brains and impulse control,” the WISDOM members write. “The Vera Institute of Justice argues that 15 years is usually long enough for a young offender to grow into a responsible adult. Michael has now spent over 30 years in prison — twice as long as his entire life before incarceration. We believe that he has already demonstrated his readiness for release by working hard, educating and improving himself, and making positive contributions to the community.”

A nurse at Kettle Moraine, Nicole Schwaller, who has worked with Maldonado for eight years and at the health services unit for four, said he “was always willing to tackle any tasks that were delegated to him and was trusted to work in our area because of his good conduct and work ethic.”

He also received support from a former correctional officer, Tina Bleich, who worked at Columbia Correctional Institution while Maldonado was there working in the print shop. “It is my opinion that if Michael Maldonado was released into the community, that he would not be a hazard,” she wrote. “I believe he would be a productive member of society.”

Wendy Heredia, a member of the advocacy group Justice Forward Wisconsin, said she’s known Maldonado for about eight years. She has helped him stay in touch with the outside world, including assisting with communication with his family. 

“He’s not the type of person to say, ‘I did this,’ or ‘I did that,’ or ‘Why can’t I get my second chance?” Heredia said. “He always tries to better himself in prison, because he said (that) if God’s plan was for me to stay here for the rest of my life, then that’s God’s plan, and I have to walk with that. But I want to do it the best way I can, so I can help others in their path, in their rehabilitation, so they can be successful community members.” 

Heredia said her husband was once incarcerated with Maldonado. She thinks that many juveniles with life sentences who started their time in prison stuck together. 

“All the children deserve this in Wisconsin,” Heredia said. “They deserve a second chance, a second look.”

Tom Denk, who was released from prison in 2022, told the Examiner that he met Maldonado at Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution, where they lived in the same unit of the prison for about eight months and talked on a few occasions while walking to work in the prison. Denk is the co-president of ESTHER, an advocacy group in northeast Wisconsin that works on criminal justice issues. 

While he didn’t get to know Maldonado in depth, Denk said Maldonado was soft-spoken and did not try to intimidate others or ask for special treatment, and he got the impression that other incarcerated people went to Maldonado for advice.

“If I would choose a poster boy for commutations for people that committed a crime when they were young and now deserve a chance to move on with their life, I would say that person is Mike,” Denk said. 

Wisconsin rail service to Chicago and the Pacific Northwest will share in a $140 million upgrade from the federal government.

The investment, awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration, will be used to overhaul 41 passenger locomotives that pull trains on the popular Hiawatha route connecting Milwaukee and Chicago and trains that pass through Wisconsin enroute to Washington state.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) announced the award Wednesday. The contract was a joint application involving the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and corresponding agencies in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon and Washington, all of which will also have passenger routes that will be served by the upgraded motive power.

“Investing in this rail line is an investment in the Main Streets that will get more customers, in families’ safety, and in our state’s future,” Baldwin said.

“This grant will help keep the locomotive fleet in a state of good repair, enhancing rail line resiliency, and preventing unplanned outages,” said Wisconsin DOT Secretary Kristina Boardman.

The funding came from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in the first year of former President Joe Biden’s term. Baldwin’s office noted that the law was enacted without the votes of any Wisconsin Republicans in Congress.

The prediction market platform Novig is suing to stop the state Department of Justice from using the state’s gambling laws to prevent the firm from operating in Wisconsin. 

Novig’s federal lawsuit follows DOJ’s lawsuits in April that charged three other prediction market platforms with violating Wisconsin’s recently adopted online sports gambling law. 

In the new lawsuit, filed by Novig’s parent firm Ludlow Exchange LLC, the business asserts that it isn’t engaged in “gambling” but instead is “providing sports-based event contracts to customers across the United States.”

Event contracts pay out to customers who purchase a contract for a specific outcome, such as victory by a particular team in a particular game. In the lawsuit Ludlow Exchange asserts that an event contract is a “derivative” investment regulated exclusively by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“The field here is not gambling,” the lawsuit states. “It is the regulation of trading on federally designated contract markets — the discrete activity over which Congress conferred exclusive jurisdiction” to the CFTC. 

DOJ communications director Riley Vetterkind referred a request for comment on the lawsuit to the department’s April 23 press release that announced its lawsuits against three other prediction market firms. 

“Thinly disguising unlawful conduct doesn’t make it lawful,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said then. “These companies’ alleged facilitation of sports betting in Wisconsin should be shut down.”

Novig entered the Wisconsin market the first week of August. Ludlow Exchange and Novig said in their lawsuit, which was first reported by WisPolitics, that they were filing the complaint because DOJ “could bring an enforcement action premised on the false notion that Novig is violating state gambling laws, exposing Novig to criminal liability for a Class I felony.”

The emergence of prediction markets including Kalshi and Polymarket has prompted states across the country to enact legislation and file lawsuits, Stateline reported in March.

The online platforms have been estimated to generate more than $13 billion every month, with the bulk of those revenues coming from sports betting, Stateline reported.

DOJ sued Kalshi, Coinbase, Polymarket and other prediction platforms in April, charging that their engagement in online sports betting violated the state’s online sports gambling law signed earlier that month. 

The new law legalized online sports betting in Wisconsin on the condition that the computer servers required are housed on tribal land. Until the law’s enactment, sports betting had been legal in Wisconsin since 2021, but only in person at tribal casinos.

The DOJ’s lawsuits said transactions on the prediction market platforms are “indistinguishable from an ordinary sports bet” as defined in Wisconsin law.

Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase and the other defendants in Wisconsin’s lawsuits have also asserted that they’re beyond the reach of state gambling bans. They contend they’re only subject to federal regulation by the CFTC, and that a federal appeals court has ruled states don’t have jurisdiction over prediction markets.

The defendants have moved Wisconsin’s cases into federal court, where lawyers are currently arguing over whether they should remain there or return to Dane County’s court. 

A federal judge in the District of Columbia issued an order Wednesday blocking U.S. Health and Human Services from implementing sweeping changes to grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds, but dozens of existing grants that were canceled this summer will remain so for now, unless the administration chooses to reinstate the funds.  

The agency canceled 53 out of 67 grants under the program at the end of June, affecting grantees in more than two dozen states, including Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. Grantees were given no advance notice and were told their programs did not align with agency priorities — most were told their programs normalized or promoted sexual activity for minors. The grants were canceled two years before their expiration dates.

Following the cancellations, three affected grantees and sex education advocacy group SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia federal court district on July 14. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in the case, warranting his decision to block the Trump administration’s actions. 

But Cooper said it’s unclear whether he can order the restoration of nearly $70 million in canceled funds, and that other court cases need to be resolved before he can move forward with that kind of action.

Congress established the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program in 2010 as a national, evidence-based grant program that would fund diverse programs working to prevent teen pregnancy using methods that have repeatedly shown to be effective. Grant recipients typically offer educational programs about preventing pregnancy or identifying healthy relationships, and provide referrals for community and healthcare resources as needed. 

Since then, teen pregnancy rates have fallen about 72%, which researchers say is the biggest contributor to the overall drop in national birth rates.

To replace the canceled grants, HHS published two notices for new programs that focused less on preventing pregnancy and more on fertility tracking, “body literacy” goals and “reproductive goals counseling.”

“HHS is perfectly entitled to formulate its own views about how to stem teen pregnancy — or even whether it is worth preventing at all — and to pursue policy initiatives consistent with its viewpoint,” Cooper wrote in his ruling. “But it is not at liberty … to impose conditions on grant recipients that Congress did not intend or that are unreasonable or unexplained. The preliminary record suggests that HHS has done just that.”

Cooper said HHS could choose to reissue the grant funding opportunities under the previous guidelines, but it can’t move forward with the new ones while the lawsuit proceeds.

The judge also noted that in July 2025, HHS issued a notice telling grantees to revise their programs to align with current executive orders, including by deleting any references to health equity and inclusivity, and offered guidance about what it considered medically accurate and age appropriate content. 

Three grantees sued over the notice, saying it was contrary to the statute guiding the program as established by Congress, and another D.C. judge agreed, vacating the guidance and blocking its implementation. 

“As the saying goes, ‘When at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ HHS has taken this adage to heart,” Cooper wrote this week, citing the 2025 court case. “Unfazed by the adverse ruling, HHS issued new (grant funding notices)  that repackaged the vacated policy changes and imposed additional grant parameters.”

The administration could appeal the decision in the coming weeks. Stateline has requested comment from HHS officials.

Stateline reporter Kelcie Moseley-Morris can be reached at kmoseley@stateline.org.

A voting rights focused law firm and a Milwaukee-based civil rights group filed a brief Wednesday urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take a case seeking to overturn a July appeals court decision that said circuit courts in Wisconsin don’t have the authority to extend poll location hours due to unforeseen circumstances. 

The case stems from the Democratic National Committee filing a lawsuit to extend the hours of two polling places at UW-Whitewater during the 2024 presidential election after long lines stretched for hours, partially for voters to update their voter registration through Wisconsin’s same day registration process. A Walworth County judge agreed with the DNC at the time and extended the hours. 

The Republican National Committee appealed the ruling and in July the District 2 Court of Appeals ruled that circuit courts extending voting hours could undermine confidence in elections and that circuit courts don’t even have the authority to do so. The majority opinion came from conservative judges Mark Gundrum and Shelley Grogan. Judge Lisa Neubauer, a liberal, issued a concurring opinion that separately said courts should maintain the authority to extend voting hours. 

“It is critical that we also clarify that, while the legislature is entrusted with setting the time, place, and manner of elections, the applicable polling hours statutes are not immutable: extraordinary or emergency circumstances can support extension of polling hours when these statutes are applied in violation of the electors’ constitutional right to vote,” Neubauer wrote. 

The brief filed Wednesday by Black Leaders Organizing for Communities and Law Forward argued it is “unmistakable” that Wisconsin’s courts have a long history of asserting that a person’s right to vote should win out. 

In the brief, the two organizations point to “150 years of precedent — in at least 12 separate cases” that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld the right to vote when election officials make mistakes. Those precedents include an 1875 case in which the Court found “it would be a fraud on the constitution” to disenfranchise voters by discounting votes due to the errors of election officials. 

“This line of precedent teaches that Wisconsin courts have always intervened, where necessary, to uphold the constitutional right to vote in the face of circumstances beyond the voter’s control,” the brief states. “But the decision below suggests otherwise. It holds that, regardless of what facts might have been adduced, “the circuit court still would not have had equitable authority for its order” extending poll hours. Such a blanket limitation is incompatible with the Wisconsin Constitution’s guarantee of the right to vote. It cannot stand.”

The brief also argues that by ruling that circuit courts can’t extend poll hours due to extenuating circumstances, the appeals court made the state’s court system subordinate to the Legislature and its election statutes — violating the state Constitution’s requirement that the three branches of government be co-equal. 

“The right to vote is fundamental. The Wisconsin Constitution shields it from erosion by legislative enactments and restrictive applications of the law alike,” the brief states. “And Wisconsin courts exist, in part, to effectuate and implement the protections afforded to voters by the Wisconsin Constitution. Yet, the Court of Appeals decision calls this into doubt, and even portends to close the courthouse doors from voters and from organizations who advocate on behalf of voters, on election day in Wisconsin. These substantial legal errors necessitate this Court’s prompt review.”

Three Wisconsin legal organizations are advising the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s office to take steps to avoid intimidating voters after the sheriff posted it was dispatching deputies to polling locations on primary Election Day last week. 

The issue arose against a backdrop of increasing worries over potential election interference in a key swing state during President Donald Trump’s second term including voter intimidation and threats to election workers.

Just seven minutes after polls opened in Wisconsin last week, the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that it planned to send deputies to polling locations “periodically throughout the day to meet with the public, provide a visible law enforcement presence, and help ensure a safe, secure and orderly election.”

The office presented it as an opportunity for members of the community to connect with officers.

“If you see an Officer at one of the sites and have the time, please feel free to stop and chat with them for a bit!” the post stated. “We appreciate the important work of our election clerks and staff, and we encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote and have a safe Election Day.” 

The post immediately got pushback from members of the public, who questioned why law enforcement needed to be at polls.

The Wisconsin Democracy Defense Coalition, an umbrella organization consisting of pro-democracy groups, wrote in a statement posted online that it was “unclear exactly who or what prompted the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department announcement…” but it was “apparent that the decision was made without clear communication with, or consent from officials across the county.”

“We do know that what happened was inconsistent with our values in Wisconsin and dangerous to our civil rights at a time when we must be fiercely protective of them,” the coalition stated. 

All In Wisconsin, a member of the coalition, submitted open records requests seeking additional information. Executive Director Cass Bowers told the Wisconsin Examiner in an interview that the coalition wanted to support the community members who opposed the presence of law enforcement. 

“It’s not a normal thing for a sheriff’s department to do that in Wisconsin. It’s not something that we see,” Cass Bowers, executive director of All In Wisconsin, told the Examiner in an interview. “In Wisconsin at least, we don’t need to have a police presence at the polling locations because we have other safeguards in place. There are people there to ensure that things are going the way they should be on both sides.”

The ACLU of Wisconsin, Campaign Legal Center and Law Forward sent a letter to Sheriff Matthew Spence on Wednesday saying that they wanted to raise awareness about the concerns and “to provide you with information and resources to help ensure that all eligible voters feel safe and secure when participating in our elections.”

The Sheboygan County Democratic Party said in a post Tuesday that the law enforcement presence was a waste of resources and also raises ethical concerns, since the sheriff was on the ballot in the primary. Spence is running for reelection this year. While his name appeared on ballots, he faced no opponent in the primary. He was first appointed to the position by Gov. Tony Evers in 2024 due to the retirement of the previous sheriff.

“Municipal clerks, chief election inspectors and poll workers throughout the county have experience in conducting safe and secure elections. They are fully competent to contact law enforcement, if necessary. The integrity of our elections in Sheboygan County is not in question,” the county party said in a statement. “Law enforcement presence is a waste of resources, and it creates an atmosphere of intimidation, distrust and erodes public trust in our election process.” 

Spence said in a statement last week that the practice of sending deputies to polls is not new for the county. He noted in the statement that he did not personally visit any polling sites, though he has in the past.

“Deputies have been stopping at polling locations for many years, and we have historically received positive feedback from municipal clerks and election workers regarding their presence,” Spence said. “Our deputies understand that they are not permitted to engage in political activity while on duty.” He added in the statement that deputies are expected to follow office policies and applicable laws and regulations. 

Election workers in the U.S. have expressed concerns about safety in recent years, including in Wisconsin.

In an April 2026 poll conducted by the Brennan Center 32% of election officials said they had been threatened, harassed, or abused, nearly 25% said they were concerned about being assaulted at home or at work and over 50% said they worried that threats, harassment and intimidation would make it more difficult to retain or recruit election workers in the future.

Spence said that deputies were stopping by polls if they had time available during their regular patrol duties and visits were brief, lasting between five and ten minutes. He said the stops were “intended simply to provide an opportunity for a deputy to check in with the clerk and election workers, ensure there are no public safety concerns” and were not “assigned specifically for the purpose of influencing or monitoring voters.” 

Jon Dolson, the Sheboygan County clerk, has not responded to requests for comment from the Examiner by the time of publication.

Dolson told the Examiner in an email on Wednesday that he was made aware that something was posted on social media, though to the best of his knowledge no deputy was dispatched. He said the brief visits by officers with the sheriff’s department and a handful of police departments around the county predates his 14-year tenure as county clerk.

“Sometimes it fits into an officer’s schedule, sometimes it doesn’t.  And municipal clerks welcome the short visit. Most of the time, officers do not have time on Election Day to make such stops. This is the first time anyone has posted about this traditional activity on social media,” Dolson said. “I suspect no one will repeat that action anytime soon.”

“The purpose of these brief visits is straightforward: to ensure election workers feel safe, to address any public safety concerns that may arise, and to maintain the positive relationship between our Sheriff’s Office and the communities we serve,” Spence said. “We have no interest in interfering with the electoral process, and our deputies’ role at polling locations is not to influence voters or the outcome of an election.”

However, the legal groups and Bowers said the mere presence of officers could be intimidating to voters.

“We understand that law enforcement agencies like the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office play a critical role in keeping both voters and election officials and workers safe by responding to genuine emergencies,” the legal groups stated. “However, the visible presence of armed law enforcement at or near polling places (or other locations like drop boxes or in-person absentee voting locations) is likely to intimidate voters, thereby preventing them from casting their ballots. Voter intimidation is prohibited under both Wisconsin and Federal law.”

Wisconsin state law requires that in cities of more than 500,000, the chief of police stations a police officer at any polling place designated by the municipal board of election commissioners. That currently only includes Milwaukee. 

The ACLU’s letter noted that voter intimidation laws apply to law enforcement officers and that patrolling in militarized gear with weapons near a ballot drop box has previously been found intimidating to voters.

The groups noted in the letter that the Wisconsin Elections Commission advises that polling locations near or in police stations or other public buildings could lead to the perception of electioneering or make voters uncomfortable and that should be considered when designating polling places.

“While the presence of law enforcement may be necessary if voting is occurring at or near a public safety building or in the event of an emergency to preserve the voting process, steps can and should be taken to mitigate the intimidating effects of such presence. For instance, officers stationed at voting,” the letter states citing state statutes. 

The groups provide some recommendations for how law enforcement should navigate the issue, citing information from the National Policing Institute, 21st Century Policing Solutions and States United Democracy Center.

“For instance, officers stationed at voting locations at public safety buildings should be dressed in plain clothes, uniformed personnel should remain out of sight of voters whenever possible, and law enforcement should refrain from parking police vehicles in front of polling locations or alternatively, should use unmarked cars. Finally, if a police officer must be stationed within an electioneering perimeter, they should take directions from and follow the lead of the chief inspector, limit their interactions with voters, and respond only to emergency incidents.”

Stationing federal officers at polls is prohibited by law but concerns about federal officials including Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) patrolling polling locations ignited across the country after Trump said in May in response to a question that he would “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections; we have to have honest elections.” The Sheboygan County sheriff’s office is one of several law enforcement units across Wisconsin that maintain an active 287(g) agreement with ICE.

Trump administration officials have recently said that law federal agents will not be deployed to the polls for the midterm elections.

“Because of this administration and how they stoke fear in folks…[people] see police presence, they’re not going to go,” Bowers said. “You see a police officer at a polling location… It just gives people a fear that they don’t need to have when they’re going to vote.”

Bowers said that while elections officials should be trusted to carry out elections, transparency is part of the issue that needs to be addressed. 

“Having a Facebook post saying that you’re going to do this on Election Day is kind of what was jarring to the public,” Bowers said. “I think having a plan previously would have helped to say, ‘OK, these folks may feel like they need added protection, how do we do that in a way that doesn’t feel like voter intimidation?’… I think that’s like the biggest thing on Election Day is access to voting, and so I feel like if they were to have those concerns addressed prior to the election, that would have helped in this situation.” 

This message was echoed in the letter from the ACLU and other legal groups. 

“We recognize that the security of our elections and election officials is of paramount importance and believe a balance can be struck to accomplish these security objectives without unintentionally impeding voters,” the groups stated. “Thus, we suggest that your office issue guidance to your officers reflecting these recommendations and to coordinate directly with local election officials regarding ways to simultaneously protect the security of our elections and respond to emergency incidents without deterring voters.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include comment from Jon Dolson, the Sheboygan County clerk. 

Every day, your team sees things about student attendance, enrollment, and access that no one else in the district does. The challenge isn’t what your team knows — it’s that many districts don’t yet understand how central transportation is to their most pressing priorities: chronic absenteeism, enrollment decline, and service for the students who need the most reliable support.

Data from the 2026 State of School Transportation Report confirms that transportation plays a direct role in whether students show up, which school families choose, and if and how students experiencing homelessness or students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) get the transportation access the law requires. But most districts are still treating transportation as a logistics line item instead of a strategic asset.

In this webinar, we will explore key findings from the report including what the data shows, why it matters far beyond the transportation department, and how to make the case for transportation having a seat at the table for high-level district conversations.

What you’ll take away:

• New data on transportation-related absences: More than half of families surveyed say their child missed school at least once in the past year because of transportation — and most attendance systems aren’t flagging transportation as the cause.
• Evidence linking transportation to school choice and enrollment: What parents across the country told us about how transportation availability influences school choice, and what it means for districts trying to reverse enrollment decline.
• A clear picture of the McKinney-Vento response gap: What it’s costing vulnerable students when districts can’t meet the “without delay” standard for transportation for students experiencing homelessness
• A concrete first step for using transportation to impact attendance: Data shows that 75% of district administrators believe transportation affects attendance, but only 25% are formally tracking the relationship.
• Proof that transportation belongs at the leadership table: How to bring your data into district conversations on absenteeism, enrollment, and equity.

Brought to you by HopSkipDrive

 

REGISTER BELOW:

 

Presenters:

Angelo Grau
Transportation Supervisor
Mesquite ISD

President
North Texas Association of Pupil Transportation

Dustin Kress
General Manager
RouteWise AI

Former Chief of Staff for Operations
Denver Public Schools

Adam Gleicher
Director of Marketing
HopSkipDrive

The post (Free Webinar) Transportation: The Missing Link for Attendance, Enrollment, and Equity appeared first on School Transportation News.

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