Alternatives to incarceration could drastically cut lock-up rate in Wisconsin. This week the Department of Corrections will finally take up a 2014 law that aimed to do just that. | Getty Images
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) will hold a public hearing this week on Act 196, legislation that received bipartisan support and was signed into law in April 2014 by then-Gov. Scott Walker. The law aimed to create sanctions for people who violate the conditions of their parole, probation and extended supervision as an alternative to revocation, which sends people back to prison sometimes for small infractions that violate the terms of their release. The hearing on implementing a new rule, 11 years after the law was signed, will finally take place on Tuesday, July 8 at 10 a.m.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
The public can join the virtual hearing by going to a DOC link and selecting the “hearing information” section. The text of the rule is also available online at the same hearing link.
Act 196 states the intent to “Develop a system of short-term sanctions for violations of conditions of parole, probation, extended supervision, and deferred prosecution agreement (an agreement not to prosecute pending the accused meeting requirements such as drug treatment).”
A sentence for a criminal violation, besides fines and fees, typically includes a period of incarceration and supervision outside incarceration via parole, probation, or extended supervision.
If a condition of supervision, such as the requirement to remain sober or stay away from minors, is not meant, the probation officer has the option of requesting a revocation hearing before an administrative judge that could result in the person serving a portion or the remainder of the “supervised” sentence behind bars.
Act 196 states “short-term sanctions” should include “examples of high, medium and low level sanctions and what factors to consider when determining which level of sanction to apply.”
The law is not just punitive. Act 196 also says the DOC is to determine “how to reward offenders for compliance with conditions of parole, of probation, of extended supervision or of the agreement (such as deferred prosecution).”
The 2014 law also states the DOC should “minimize the impact on the offender’s employment” and also minimize “the impact on an offender’s family.”
The 2014 law would appear to meet the stated goals of the DOC and Gov. Tony Evers to lower the revocation rate for Wisconsin that has resulted in thousands returning each year to prison.
WISDOM, a statewide network working on reform of the prison and criminal legal systems and other social justice issues, is pleased the DOC is finally taking steps to implement the 2014 law into a rule.
“Adding more short-term community-based alternatives to revocation has the potential to significantly reduce the number of people sent to prison each year,” said Mark Rice, Transformational Justice Campaign Coordinator for WISDOM, a statewide network working to overhaul the criminal legal system and other unjust systems.
“Sending people back to prison for convictionless rule violations is fueling the overcrowding of Wisconsin’s prisons,” said Rice.
Tom Gilbert, a father whose son has been incarcerated and had supervision revoked and returned to prison, has led WISDOM’s efforts to get the DOC to implement Act 196.
“It is way past time for Wisconsin to transform its supervision program of people who have been released from their original sentence,” said Gilbert. “Revoking people back to prison for rule violations is counter-productive. Other states have moved to better methods of supervision and are closing prisons.”
But WISDOM officials also have concerns that DOC will use current practices of sanctions, such as 90-day jail confinements, that WISDOM say don’t meet the intent of ACT 196 to “minimize” the impact on employment and the family.
Wisdom officials are also concerned the DOC has not fleshed out how to implement ACT 196 by describing the actual “system of short-term sanctions.” The proposed rule to be considered at the July 8 hearing merely replicates language stated in Act 196 without specifying the actual short-term sanctions or the rewards for meeting the conditions of supervision.
“If the Department of Corrections truly implements both the letter and spirit of Act 196, we see the potential transformation of its community corrections programs to one that focuses on healing individuals and communities affected by crime,” said Gilbert.
Joining the public hearing
Members of the public who are not able to join the hearing online can use a call-in number for the meeting: (608) 571-2209, with conference code 930 614 929.
Persons making oral presentations at the meeting are also required to submit their comments in writing.
Written comments are also taken until August 8. Written comments can be mailed to DOC Administrative Rule Committee, Caitlin Washburn, Administrative Rules Coordinator, PO Box 7925, Madison, WI 53707-7925.
A Wisconsin nonprofit is pushing to get books back into prisons after a DOC directive ending the effort. | Getty Images Creative
The nonprofit Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) are carrying out a pilot project that involves sending used books to prisoners.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
This might lead to the nonprofit regaining the ability to send used books to incarcerated people in DOC facilities around the state. Meanwhile, WBTP says it has experienced an issue with packages of new books, which were not banned, being sent back.
Last year, the department enacted a used book ban.The DOC has cited concerns about drug smuggling, leading to scrutiny of how effective the ban might be and whether the impact on prisoners’ access to books was justified. Camy Matthay of Wisconsin Books to Prisoners told the Examiner in September that the ban hobbles the project.
The agency said in late September that it used to make an exception for WBTP to send used books “due to the organization being based in Wisconsin with leadership who were responsive and willing to work with DOC.” Wardens and librarians could accept used books from certain trusted sources for donation to the institution libraries.
In late September, the DOC said that under a policy announced in January, the department could no longer accept used books from anyone — including WBTP. The department said “that policy is now being enforced when it comes to library donations as well as books sent to persons in our care.”
In March, the Examiner reported on concerns regarding mail between incarcerated people and attorneys, including the question of the accuracy of the drug tests used on materials coming into prisons.
According to incident reports and a statement from the DOC in late September, three separate shipments in February and March 2024 that were allegedly from Wisconsin Books to Prisoners had multiple items testing positive for drugs.
In an email to Wisconsin Books to Prisoners in August, Sarah Cooper, former administrator of the DOC’s division of adult institutions, said the concern was not with WBTP but with people who would impersonate the nonprofit.
“Unfortunately, those who wish to send drugs into the prisons do so under the guise of legitimate agencies, organizations and even legal entities,” Cooper said.
WBTP said the group expects to be formally approved to resume shipping new and used donated books to people incarcerated throughout Wisconsin upon the successful completion of the second phase of the pilot.
“We are cautiously optimistic that WBTP will be back or close to our full operations by September 2025,” the nonprofit said in a statement Friday.
WBTP said it has participated in a pilot program at Oakhill Correctional Institution over the past few months. The nonprofit said that during phase one, it sent three packages of books, one third of which were used books. The books were added to the library collection, making them available for checkout by those who requested them.
The pilot program aims to allow DOC to test and refine its screening process for donated reading materials to ensure safety, DOC communications director Beth Hardtke said in an email to the Examiner.
Starting July 1, WBTP will be able to send requested materials directly to individuals at Oakhill Correctional Institution instead of the institution library, Hardtke said.
“The goal is to eventually allow WBTP to send reading materials to individuals at any DOC facility — safely,” Hardtke said. She mentioned a safety concern about people coming into contact with intoxicating substances.
In a statement in late September, the department said staff reviewed contraband incident reports that facility staff had flagged as drug-related between Jan. 1 2019 and Sept. 19, 2024.
The DOC said that not all incident reports flagged as drug-related turn out to be drug-related, and that “some drug-related incidents recorded through a medical record or conduct report may not be reflected in these numbers.”
The department said there had been 214 incidents of drugs being found on paper from Jan. 1 2019 to Sept. 18, 2024 “including in books and letters shipped to DOC facilities.”
WBTP said it was told by DOC that it would continue mailing brand-new books to meet requests made by readers. Many of those packages have been returned to them, WBTP said. The status of some packages is not known, and the nonprofit is investigating the issue. In its statement, WBTP said it has “engaged in discussions” with DOC administrative staff, “in opposition to their policy banning the donation of used reading materials.”
“WBTP remains committed to pursuing every possible avenue to challenge this censorship,” the nonprofit said.
Green Bay Correctional Institution | Photo by Andrew Kennard/Wisconsin Examiner
Prison reform advocates gathered by Green Bay Correctional Institution on Monday, calling for change at a moment when the prison’s future is uncertain.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
The vigil included prayer for incarcerated people in solitary confinement and for the families of Shawnee Reed and Brittany Doescher, who died at Taycheedah Correctional Institution.
“We’re all human,” JOSHUA Coordinator Caitlin Haynes said. “So whether you committed a crime or not, you deserve humane treatment. So we’re here for that, and to bring light to the situation that they deserve better.”
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections reports on how long prisoners spend in disciplinary separation, where a prisoner might be sent after committing a violation. GBCI has the longest average length of stay in disciplinary separation of any of the adult facilities listed, at 48.6 days, as of the most recent data.
JOSHUA, a local affiliate of the advocacy organization WISDOM, holds monthly vigils at Green Bay Correctional.
Leslie Hill, who attended the event, said her son died by suicide after leaving prison.
“I spoke to him daily whenever he wasn’t in solitary, and he had many traumatic experiences,” Hill said. “He had no support. And he was facing one more charge, he was on bond. I had bonded him out to have some mental health treatment…and I think [a] contributing factor to his death was [the prospect of going back].”
Protesters hold a vigil outside Green Bay Correctional Institution Monday, June 23 2025 | Photo by Andrew Kennard/Wisconsin Examiner
In a post before the event, WISDOM said advocates were gathering with four other groups “to call on Gov. Evers to veto any budget that continues to invest in punishment over people.” At a rally at the Capitol in late May, advocates called on the governor to veto the budget if it lacked certain items.
“We’re urging [Evers] to veto any budget that does not include adequate investments in health care, child care and public education,” said Mark Rice, Wisconsin Transformational Justice Campaign Coordinator at WISDOM. “Also, we want him to ensure that no new prisons are included in the budget… Also wanting to adequately fund measures in the budget that would reduce the prison population.”
GBCI’s future to be determined
In February, Gov. Tony Evers laid out a plan that included closing GBCI in 2029 and updating Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI).
Last week, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved a level of corrections spending that was significantly lower than Evers’ proposal.
Co-chair Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said GBCI wouldn’t be discussed until later in the week, when the committee would take up the capital budget. That meeting was canceled.
According to the Evers administration, the governor’s plan opted to close GBCI instead of Waupun because of local support for closing GBCI and the lower cost of updating the Waupun facility, the Examiner reported in February.
Long stays in restricted housing
According to the most recent data, 138 incarcerated people were in disciplinary separation at GBCI. There were 71 people in restrictive housing in the facility for over 30 days, the highest of any facility listed and nearly triple the number at the second highest facility.
Over the years, the average length of stay in disciplinary separation has declined across facilities, from 39.7 days in 2019 to 27.8 days in May 2025.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has entered a contract with a third-party management and consulting firm, Falcon Correctional and Community Services, Inc. The partnership includes studying restrictive housing practices at adult prisons.
An aging facility
GBCI was built starting in 1898. As of June 20, it housed 381 more incarcerated people than its design capacity of 749.
Overcrowding puts additional burdens on staff to maintain a facility’s safety and security, a 2020 draft report on the Wisconsin Department of Corrections website stated. Overcrowding also “stresses inmate programs and support functions.”
The report found that GBCI and Waupun Correctional Institution, the oldest facilities in the system, were both “at or nearing the end of their useful lives.”
Without extensive demolition and reconstruction of housing, program and support services buildings, the report stated, “they will not begin to achieve the safety, security, efficiency and flexibility found in modern correctional institution design.”
Maximum security housing at the prisons opened with 50 square foot cells designed for single occupancy, according to the report. Most of those cells were being used to house two people, presented operational issues and did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or meet American Correctional Association standards.
The report said new maximum security housing was needed in the long term. In the short term, “consideration should be given to reducing populations at GBCI and WCI if possible to allow for more single occupancy cells.”
The 2020 report also said a number of facilities have ADA-accessible housing accommodations, but “there exists a particular lack of accessibility at the GBCI and WCI maximum security institutions.”
Flags of the 11 Native American tribes of Wisconsin in the Wisconsin State Capitol. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
At a state prison in Stanley, Wisconsin, participants in a Native American-focused group take part in traditional cultural practices.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
According to Ryan Greendeer, executive government relations officer with the Ho-Chunk Nation, Stanley Correctional Institution’s chaplain recently reached out to the tribe with requests for the group’s programming.
The chaplain wanted teaching materials, as many materials in the current selection were old. He said that men learn songs and Native language with the materials, as well as history and culture.
The chaplain said the men are eager to learn more about all things Native, according to Greendeer. He was also seeking a larger pipe bowl and poles to help build a new lodge. The pipe has a history of ceremonial use.
The prison’s annual report for fiscal year 2024 mentions a Native American smudge and drum group. The report says that each month, several religious organizations and volunteers come in to hold various services, and the list includes “Sweat Lodge (Native American).”
There were 79 American Indian or Alaska Native people at Stanley Correctional as of April 30, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC).
Gov. Tony Evers’ budget recommendations for corrections included a tribal liaison position for the DOC. The liaison would be responsible for working with Native American tribes and bands on the agency’s behalf.
Each of the governor’s cabinet agencies has already set at least one staff member to be a tribal liaison. The governor’s proposal would create a new position, set aside for the job of tribal liaison for corrections.
Evers also proposed creating a director of Native American affairs in the Department of Administration and tribal liaisons in several other agencies, including the Department of Justice and Department of Natural Resources.
“Gov. Evers’ commitment has been—and always will be—to ensure that the state maintains strong partnerships with the Tribal Nations by recognizing and respecting the needs and perspectives of the Nations and Indigenous people,” Britt Cudaback, communications director for the governor’s office, said in an email.
“Unfortunately, [Evers] sends us an executive budget that’s just piles full of stuff that doesn’t make sense and spends recklessly and raises taxes and has way too much policy,” Joint Finance Committee co-chair Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said in May.
Tribes already work with the state, including the Oneida Nation, which is located in northeast Wisconsin. The tribe told the Examiner that it continues to work with the state to make sure incarcerated Native Americans have proper access to culturally based practices and resources.
With a tribal liaison that can help navigate the corrections system, the tribe’s efforts to make sure resources are provided and distributed appropriately make better progress, the tribe said.
“These efforts will continue whether or not a tribal liaison position exists, although the impact on incarcerated individuals who use culturally based resources may be greater as efforts take longer,” the tribe said.
The Oneida Nation said it “supports tribes’ efforts to ensure incarcerated members maintain access to appropriate support services as provided by tribal, state, and federal laws.”
Maggie Olson, communications coordinator for the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, said the tribe is not located close to the corrections facilities where their tribal members are incarcerated. This is a significant barrier, she said.
“It would be nice to be able to have a better handle on where our people are within the system to ensure they are having their spiritual and cultural needs met,” Olson said in an email to the Examiner. “It is much easier (at this time) to meet religious needs (think Christianity) within the correctional system than it is to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of Native Americans within the system.”
A great first step would be having a dedicated person who can build relationships with incarcerated Native Americans, she said.
In a statement, the tribe said the liaison “would be a start to developing and enhancing tribal input with State initiatives.” The tribe said it wants to work with the DOC on access to supportive services in county jails.
Olson said she met DOC Secretary Jared Hoy at an event on June 5 and that they had a great discussion about the potential benefits of a tribal liaison at the agency.
“With the uncertainties surrounding federal funding, we are hopeful state funding will be increased to tribal programs in Wisconsin,” Olson said.
The tribe’s criminal justice work involves partnership with the DOC. In the St. Croix Tribal Reintegration Program, case managers work with tribal members before and after their release from prison or jail, the tribe said. The program has a memo of understanding with the Department of Corrections, providing guidance for working relationships between tribal reentry and probation.
All of the governor’s cabinet agencies have consultation policies that say how they will work with tribal governments. Agencies and tribal elected officials have annual consultation meetings to talk about programs, laws and funding that may affect the tribe.
Discussions at the annual state-tribal consultation tend to be about high-level policy, but they can delve into specifics, Greendeer said. He gave an example related to tribal members who are on probation or parole.
“For example, a topic that keeps coming up is re-entry programming for enrolled tribal member offenders,” Greendeer said. “A concern discussed at a recent consultation was that probation/parole officers might not consider tribal norms/values, citing a lack of eye contact in saying a client is disengaged or disconnected.”
The co-chairs and vice-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee did not respond to requests for comment. DOC communications director Beth Hardtke did not answer a question from the Examiner about the responsibilities and goals of the tribal liaison position.
Local advocacy organization JOSHUA held a prayer vigil outside Green Bay Correctional Institution. | Photo by Andrew Kennard for Wisconsin Examiner
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers included a prison accountability office in recommendations for the upcoming state budget. That proposal was tossed out by the state Legislature, along with hundreds of others made by Evers. And so far, prison reform advocates haven’t found a Republican sponsor for a separate bill.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
The proposed Office of the Ombudsperson for Corrections would conduct investigations, inspect prison facilities and make recommendations to prisons in response to complaints. The proposal would cost about $2.1 million from 2025-2027.
Deaths of prisoners, staffing problems and lawsuits have drawn attention to serious problems in Wisconsin’s prison system.
“How many more millions of dollars are we going to spend in fighting lawsuits, dealing with litigation?” said Susan Franzen of the Ladies of SCI. The prison reform advocacy group wants to see independent oversight of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
“We’re willing to spend that money, but we’re not willing to take a million dollars to put something in place that can help start addressing these things and eventually get proactive, so we don’t have all this litigation going on against the Department of Corrections,” Franzen said.
“Unfortunately, [Evers] sends us an executive budget that’s just piles full of stuff that doesn’t make sense and spends recklessly and raises taxes and has way too much policy,” Joint Finance Committee co-chair Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said in May, after the committee killed more than 600 items in Evers’ budget proposal. “So, we’ll work from base and the first step of that today is to remove all that policy… and then begin the work of rebuilding the budget.”
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has already partnered with Falcon Correctional and Community Services, Inc., a consulting and management firm, for a third-party review.
The Falcon partnership includes a comprehensive study of the Division of Adult Institutions’ health care program, behavioral health program, correctional practices and restrictive housing practices, the Examiner reported. The study was projected to take six months.
Rep. Jerry O’Connor (R-Fond Du Lac), vice chair of the Assembly Committee on Corrections, said “our first priority” is addressing staff shortages in various areas, ranging from guards to social workers.
For the most recent pay period, the DOC reported a vacancy rate of 16% for correctional officers and sergeants at adult facilities. Columbia Correctional Institution has the highest vacancy rate among adult facilities, at 35.4%. Waupun and Green Bay Correctional Institutions have vacancy rates over 20%.
The second priority O’Connor listed in an email to the Examiner is the hundreds of millions of dollars needed for facility reorganization.
“Based on the pressing financial requests for address[ing] critical staffing shortages and housing issues, I do not see [the governor’s recommendation for an ombudsperson office] getting passed or funded,” O’Connor said.
Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) criticized the potential structure of the ombudsperson’s office, Wisconsin Public Radio reported in February.
“De facto lifetime appointments (which the ombudsperson appears to be), almost a dozen new bureaucrats, and millions of dollars are not creative solutions,” Felzkowski said, according to WPR.
Would the ombudsperson be independent?
To Franzen, “it feels like we’re back to square one, with the original plan of trying to get a bill, and we’ll keep trying,” she said.
Ladies of SCI Executive Director Rebecca Aubart said she is still hopeful about finding a Republican to sponsor an ombudsman office.
Aubart said she’s heard support for oversight of the DOC, , “but it just appears that nobody’s willing to stick their neck out to be the one to sponsor it,” she said.
The Examiner reported in October that 20 states had an independent prison oversight body. Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, wrote about independent oversight in an essay published by the Brennan Center in 2021.
“They can identify troubling practices early, and bring these concerns to administrators’ attention for remediation before the problems turn into scandals, lawsuits, or deaths,” Deitch wrote. “They can share best practices and strategies that have worked in other facilities to encourage a culture of improvement.”
The proposed Office of the Ombudsperson for Corrections was described in a summary of the governor’s corrections budget recommendations. It would be attached to the Department of Corrections.
Officials in the Evers administration said the office would operate in a “‘functionally independent’” manner, Wisconsin Public Radio reported in February.
Franzen said she’d rather it be completely separate from the DOC, but would support any movement toward some type of oversight at this point. Aubart said independence is a “cornerstone to any ombudsman.”
What would the office do?
The proposed office’s powers include conducting investigations, having witnesses subpoenaed, inspecting facilities at any time and examining records held by the DOC.
If the ombudsperson made a recommendation to a prison regarding a complaint from a prisoner at the facility, a warden would have 30 days to reply. The warden would have to specify “what actions they have taken as a result of the recommendations and why they are taking or not taking those actions.”
If there was reason to believe a public official or employee has broken a law or requires discipline, the ombudsperson could refer the issue to the appropriate authorities.
The ombudsperson would report to the governor at the governor’s request. Each year, the ombudsperson would submit a report of findings and recommended improvements to policies and practices at state correctional institutions, as well as the results of investigations.
Mark Rice, transformational justice campaign coordinator at the advocacy coalition WISDOM, said he also wants to see an additional mechanism to hold the Wisconsin Department of Corrections accountable.
“Currently incarcerated people, and people who have loved ones who are currently incarcerated, need to really be more at the center of decision-making,” Rice said.
The co-chairs and vice-chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance did not respond to the Examiner’s requests for comment.
The Menomonee Falls village board voted to cut the library budget by $300,000 last month. (Menomonee Falls Public Library)
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Menomonee Falls residents are concerned about the future of their public library after the village board voted late last month to move $300,000 from the library’s 2026 budget to the police department.
Board members said the May 19 move, which passed in a unanimous 6-0 vote, was intended to help the police increase staffing in response to an uptick in crime. Critics of the decision said the move is likely to force the library to cut back on staff, hours and programming — potentially putting its certification from Waukesha County at risk.
The resolution, which was passed months before the board begins working on writing the village’s 2026 budget, also comes as libraries across the country are about to be hit by funding cuts from the federal government as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to slash federal spending.
This year, the library’s budget was set at about $2.3 million, making the $300,000 cut about 15% of the library’s total budget. The cut is larger than the $225,000 the library was budgeted to spend on purchasing new materials this year. The police department’s 2025 budget is more than $12 million.
“If village board members are so obsessed with firing librarians, just say so and be transparent with the community, because that is the impact of stealing 20% of the library’s funds,” Ian Dickmann, a community resident and former member of the library board, said at the board meeting. “You will be firing multiple librarians, cutting library hours and negatively impacting library programs, materials and services. The community has spoken in support of the library on multiple occasions. Yet here we are again. If you as a village board cannot manage to properly fund the police and the library, then you have failed as a board.”
Menomonee Falls Police data shows that crime has increased slightly this year, and through retirements, resignations and leaves, the department currently has fewer than the 65 sworn officers in its budget. Police Chief Mark Waters said at a board meeting in April that the department was working with 54 fully trained officers.
At that meeting, Waters said that this year, class A offenses, which include more serious crimes such as assaults, robberies and drug offenses, are up 18% compared to the first quarter of 2024. However, much of that increase is due to a 41% increase in drug offenses, of which Waters said the vast majority was “a lot of marijuana taken out of traffic stops.”
As of April, there had been 41 thefts in Menomonee Falls this year, according to police data, an increase of six incidents from the first quarter last year. The clearance rate, the percentage of crimes that are solved, on those thefts was 51%.
Menomonee Falls Assistant Police Chief Gary Neyhart said in an email that the department has had problems with staffing, but that budget decisions are up to the board.
“Chief Mark Waters provides public quarterly updates to the Village Board and a consistent message has been that staffing has been an issue here at the police department,” Neyhart said. “The Village Board then determines how best to address these stated staffing concerns. I also cannot speak on their behalf. I don’t believe we are alone with our staffing issues and that many area departments are in a similar situation as well as dealing with retention and recruitment. We will always strive to provide the highest level of service that our staffing allows.”
Board member Paul Tadda, said at the May meeting that the resolution to cut the library budget was made to maintain the level of police services a suburban community expects.
“We’re down to 52 fully trained officers. That requires forced overtime to maintain shifts are full and able to respond to emergencies as necessary and provide police services that the village has been accustomed to,” he said. “I do not want to live in Milwaukee.”
Andy Guss, co-leader of the community group Grassroots Menomonee Falls, told the Wisconsin Examiner he is used to Tadda’s “racist dog whistles,” and that he is more concerned about the library’s ability to remain certified and serve as an important resource for village residents.
In Wisconsin, counties set a tax levy for library services. Those funds are distributed to municipal libraries to compensate for the use of services by people who live in communities without a library. Municipal residents are exempted from paying the library tax if they live in a community that has a library which meets standards set by the state and county board.
The Waukesha County standards require the village to provide at least $1,630,000 in the annual library budget, be open at least 60 hours a week, employee at least 17.61 full time employees, have a collection size of at least 125,400 materials, have at least 20 public computers and provide wireless internet access.
Guss says he’s worried the cuts will put the library dangerously close to not meeting the standards.
“We’re going to be really close to not hitting the Waukesha County standards,” he says. “And I’m fearful of what will happen if we also lose additional funding from the federal government, because then how short will we be? How many people, how many librarians will we have to fire? How many services will we have to cut? How many books do we not get, how much new material can we not get? How many computers? It’s scary to think about, because it limits access to people that need it. Because I don’t go to the library all the time for books, I use the library for a lot of other things, like book clubs or meeting spaces. What happens to that when the hours are reduced?”
But at the meeting, board members brushed aside concerns community members raised about the standards. Board member Ann Lessila said in an email to the Examiner that the library won’t suffer.
“By reallocating funds ahead of the budget process, we have allowed the library board extra time to prepare,” Lessila said. “The library has been funded well over the required amount every year, without having to make any significant adjustments. The library remains well funded! Just about every other department has made significant adjustments over the years.”
Steve Heser, a Menomonee Falls resident and the director of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System, said he highly doubts claims that residents won’t see any impacts from the cuts and that one community library failing to meet the county standards strains the whole county system — which in this case is the Bridges Library System covering all the libraries in Jefferson and Waukesha counties.
“What you really don’t want in a system is one library failing to meet those standards, and then they’re kind of relying on the other municipalities to foot the bill for their library,” Heser said.
Aside from the county standards, Guss said he’s also worried about the village board diminishing a community gathering space, especially for kids and teenagers who have already had recreational opportunities taken away.
In March, the board voted to ban any children over the age of 12 from hanging out unaccompanied at Menomonee Falls Village Park, which is across the street from North Middle School. Village officials said the move was meant to deter vandalism.
“They’ve got the playground across the street. They ban the 12-year-olds so they can’t go there,” Guss said. “But we do have at the library, they have a teen room that is well managed. I know it’s well attended, but I would assume that, based on these cuts, that they’re going to lower hours, lower staff, and maybe we would even lose the teen room.”
The Menomonee Falls Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald and six of the village board members did not respond to requests for comment.
Waupun Correctional Institution, photographed in 2017 (Wisconsin Department of Corrections photo)
A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed Thursday over the death of Joshua Botwinski, 43, at Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI). The lawsuit named Randall Hepp and Yana Pusich as defendants, the then-warden and then-security director of the prison.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
According to the lawsuit, Botwinski suffered from a severe drug addiction and from mental illness at all times while serving his prison sentence at WCI. It says he died of a fentanyl overdose.
The lawsuit alleges prison staff known to be smuggling drugs were assigned in proximity to Botwinski. It also alleges a failure to order Botwinski into close observation until drug smuggling could be controlled.
The DOC’s online offender locator dates Botwinski’s death on January 19, 2023. Botwinski is at least the eighth incarcerated person to die at the prison since 2023. The death of Damien Evans, 23, was at least the seventh death at the Waupun prison since 2023, according to reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this year.
Another man incarcerated at Waupun, Tyshun Lemons, died on Oct. 2, 2023 when he overdosed on a substance containing fentanyl, the Examiner reported.
The estate of Joshua Botwinski is the plaintiff for the lawsuit, by special administrator Linda Botwinski. The lawsuit alleges Hepp and Pusich were deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need, knowingly created a danger for Botwinski and knowingly failed to protect him from danger. It argues that their alleged deliberate indifference caused Botwinski’s death.
In January, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that nearly a dozen prison employees had resigned or been fired since the U.S. Department of Justice’s launch of a probe into a suspected smuggling ring within the prison.
In September, William Homan, a former facilities repair worker at WCI, pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband in exchange for bribes. A sentencing memorandumby prosecutors said the presence of contraband in WCI contributed to a “lack of institutional control.”
In late April, Hepp was convicted of a misdemeanor and fined $500 in the death of Donald Maier, who was incarcerated at WCI.
A sentencing memorandum by a lawyer for Hepp said that in March 2023, “conditions and actions of the inmate population created an environment that posed an immediate threat to the safety of the staff and inmates while also threatening the security of the institution.”
The memo said Hepp put the prison in modified movement, “at times referred to as a ‘lockdown.’”
“This led to an investigation of the conditions and a search of the institution,” the memo said. “Information and physical evidence that was developed revealed a level of corrupt behavior taking place that was historical in scope involving trafficking of illegal drugs, cellular telephones, finances, and other contraband.”
The sentencing memo from Homan’s case said the lockdown involved incarcerated people “being confined to their cells twenty-four hours a day except for medical or other emergencies.”
“As part of its efforts to reestablish control, a facilitywide search was conducted, resulting in the recovery of numerous cellular phones, controlled substances, and other contraband,” the memo said. “WCI provided information obtained from its investigation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which included information that WCI staff were receiving bribes in exchange for smuggling in contraband.”
The lawsuit alleges that before Jan. 19, 2023 — and therefore before the lockdown and investigation — “via the reports they received from staff, both Pusich and Hepp knew that illegal drug use was rampant at WCI, and they knew that prison staff was smuggling drugs into WCI.”
Lawsuit includes alleged timeline leading to overdose
The lawsuit alleges that on August 15, 2022, WCI officials found out that Botwinski was under the influence of drugs. Botwinski tested positive for opiates and stimulants.
Incidents of prisoners being under the influence of drugs “is automatically reported to Pusich as security director,” and Pusich would report incidents of prisoners using illegal drugs to Hepp, the lawsuit alleges.
Before Jan. 19, the day of Botwinski’s death, Pusich and Hepp knew illegal drug use was “rampant” at the prison, the lawsuit alleges.
“From the reports of drug use and overdoses, they knew that inmates had an almost unfettered access to drugs in prison,” the lawsuit alleges. “Botwinski’s access to drugs in WCI was greater than his access to drugs outside of WCI.”
The lawsuit alleges that Hepp and/or Pusich assigned prison staff known to be smuggling drugs into the prison in proximity to Botwinski. It alleges that they knew placing staff who smuggled drugs into the prison in Botwinski’s proximity would lead to overdose.
According to the lawsuit, staff observed Botlinski in his cell at about 5:10 p.m.
“At about 6:45 p.m., Botwinski was discovered in his cell: he had been the victim of a drug (fentanyl) overdose, from which he died,” the lawsuit says.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Examiner.
Examiner staff members Baylor Spears, Henry Redman, Erik Gunn, Ruth Conniff and Criminal Justice Fellow Andrew Kennard with Milwaukee Press Club awards on May 9, 2025 | Wisconsin Examiner photo
Wisconsin Examiner staff members were recognized for investigative reporting, public service reporting, explanatory reporting, and in several feature-writing categories in the Milwaukee Press Club annual Excellence in Journalism contest for work published in 2024.
Henry Redman received the Bronze award for online investigative reporting for a series of stories that uncovered the influence of an out-of-state right-wing pro-development group on land use planning in Oneida County.
Editor Ruth Conniff was recognized in the public service reporting category for a special report on human trafficking in Wisconsin agriculture. For the third year in a row, Conniff also received an award for the best online column for a selection of her work.
Criminal Justice Project Fellow Andrew Kennard received a bronze award for explanatory reporting online for a story about problems with access to telephone communication for incarcerated people in Wisconsin prisons.
Baylor Spears was honored with a bronze award for hard news feature writing for her story on how Democratic Party candidates were campaigning in parts of the state that they have been shut out from in the past by gerrymandering.
Deputy Editor Erik Gunn was the recipient of a silver award for feature writing for his story on a project in La Crosse by college students and neighborhood activists to eliminate the use of mulched rubber as a playground surface.
Gunn also received a bronze award for personal profile writing for his story on a mother who has campaigned for years to have meningitis vaccines required in Wisconsin after her son died of the illness in college.
A Wauwatosa police squad on the scene of a non-fatal officer-involved shooting. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
The State Assembly’s Committee on Judiciary held a public hearing Wednesday to discuss a bill which, if passed, would restrict the use of John Doe hearings in cases where prosecutors decline to charge police officers after deadly force incidents. Republicans and law enforcement supporters of the bill (AB-34) said officers need to be protected from repeated investigations, and that anti-police groups have abused Wisconsin’s John Doe law to harass innocent officers who’ve been involved in civilian deaths. A long line of attorneys, legislators, social workers and others spoke in opposition to the bill, arguing that it adds to an array of legal privileges and protections police already enjoy.
Wisconsin’s John Doe law allows for a judge to be petitioned to review a case where prosecutors have already decided not to file charges. Once a John Doe hearing has been called, the judge may hear arguments from the petitioner as to why probable cause should be found that a crime was committed. If the judge agrees that probable cause does indeed exist, then special prosecutors may be appointed by the judge to review the case. Those prosecutors, however, ultimately decide whether charges will be pursued, regardless of whether a judge finds probable cause of a crime.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Rep. Clint Moses (R-Menomonie), an author of the bill, said the law had been used to “unfairly target” two officers who’ve been involved in deadly incidents. Former Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah killed Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016, claiming that Anderson lunged for a gun on the passenger seat of his vehicle. Anderson was the second person Mensah had killed in a year. He was involved in a total of three fatal shootings over his five year career at Wauwatosa PD. Mensah left Wauwatosa PD in late 2020 and was hired by the Waukesha County Sheriffs Department, where he is a detective.
In 2021, a John Doe hearing was called to review Anderson’s shooting, after which Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Glenn Yamahiro found probable cause existed to charge Mensah with homicide by negligent use of a dangerous weapon. The second John Doe hearing, started in 2023, focused on Madison police officer Matthew Kenney for the 2019 killing of 19-year-old Toney Robinson. A judge declined to allow the hearing to go forward.
“After the investigations, the court confirmed that he had acted in self-defense,” Moses said of the John Doe hearing in Anderson’s case. Mensah’s John Doe hearing “mirrored” reviews done by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, and Wauwatosa PD, he said. “It’s concerning that such investigations, which echo previous exhaustions, can be perpetuated, consuming significant time and resources,” said Moses.
While speaking Wednesday, Moses incorrectly referenced Mensah’s 2015 shooting as being the reason for the John Doe hearing in 2021. “Officer Mensah used self-defense to protect himself while on the job in a situation in 2015,” Moses testified on Wednesday. In 2015, Mensah killed 29-year-old Antonio Gonzales while still in his probationary period at Wauwatosa PD. Neither Gonzales, nor Mensah’s third fatal shooting of Alvin Cole in 2020, were the subjects of John Doe hearings.
Last year, when the bill was first introduced, Moses joined Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) in claiming that families of people killed by police were seeking vengeance against officers. Moses confused details of Mensah’s shootings during those hearings as well. When asked about the mix up, Moses admitted to Wisconsin Examiner that he had not closely followed the Mensah cases.
Rep. Clint Moses (Wisconsin Legislature)
As Moses testified on Wednesday, Hutton joined him in the committee room. Hutton, who has brought forward Senate versions of the bill, has said that although he’s taken extensive feedback from law enforcement about the bill, he has not reached out to the families of people killed by police. During a hearing in February, Mensah testified in favor of the bill.
Mark Sette, vice president of the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police, said the bill is “crucial” and that law enforcement “have both the duty and right” to use deadly force to protect themselves or others. Sette said that police must make split second decisions in high-stress circumstances, and that deadly use of force incidents “are rare”. Sette praised Wisconsin’s process of conducting reviews of deadly force incidents led by an outside agency, saying that the investigations are thorough. Sette said that repeated investigations prevent officers from moving on with their lives, and trap them in a cycle of psychological trauma and financial stress.
West Allis Police Chief Patrick Mitchell, a former president and current legislative chair of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, also praised the investigative process. Mitchell pointed to the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT) as an example of how thorough reviews of deadly force incidents by police can be.
Not everyone was sold on the bill, however. Rep. Andrew Hysell questioned Sette and Mitchell about whether or not it’s possible for a district attorney to make a mistake in clearing an officer of wrongdoing. Sette said although it’s possible, that it’s “incredibly unlikely” because of the thoroughness of deadly force investigations. Hysell said that district attorneys aren’t infallible, and that the bill — if passed — would set in stone a prosecutor’s decision, and deny one legal avenue for families of people killed by police.
Detective Joseph Mensah (right) testifies before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
After Moses, Sette, and Mitchell came numerous people from a variety of backgrounds voicing opposition to the bill. Gregory Jones, vice president of the Wisconsin NAACP and president of the organization’s Dane County branch, urged lawmakers to dig deep, ask tough questions, and consider all aspects of how the bill could negatively impact civil rights and the pursuit of justice.
Amanda Merkwae, advocacy director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin, stressed that the bill takes away judicial discretion and elevates law enforcement as a privileged class above all other citizens. Merkwae noted that prosecutors and law enforcement have close working relationships, and that district attorneys often rely on the very officers whose actions they’d need to review when citizens are killed.
The advocacy director also cited investigations by MAIT, citing an investigation by Wisconsin Examiner in partnership with Type Investigations, which reviewed 17 MAIT investigations from 2019-2022, all of which resulted in no charges against officers. Merkwae listed the article’s findings including that officers who kill citizens are interviewed as witnesses or victims only, can refuse to have their interviews recorded, and may amend their statements after viewing video evidence. In several MAIT investigations, officers were not separated from one another to prevent statement contamination despite this being a required policy.
Mensah and other officers provided contradictory statements and were not separated from one another after his third shooting. These facts were raised during a federal civil trial into Alvin Cole’s death earlier this year. The trial ended in a hung jury, with jurors unable to unanimously agree on whether Mensah’s killing of Cole was excessive.
Jay Anderson Sr. (left) and Linda Anderson (right), the parents of Jay Anderson Jr. in 2020. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Merkwae said that last year, Wisconsin had 24 fatal police encounters, up from 14 incidents the prior year. “So by creating a separate standard for police officers, this bill sends the message that they are above the law,” said Merkwae. “Which, I think, is a dangerous precedent that erodes trust and makes community engagement with law enforcement more fraught and less effective.”
Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) also spoke in opposition. Clancy said that he hadn’t planned to speak on the bill, but decided to when he heard Mensah’s name being used. “The idea that an officer who killed three people in three different incidents is a poster boy for why this is good legislation rather than bad is mindblowing to me,” said Clancy. “Joseph Mensah serves as an example of how our current system is failing the people that it is designed to protect. Had Joseph Mensah been held accountable after the first time he shot and killed somebody, he wouldn’t have shot and killed a second and a third person, in three different incidents. And it is sickening to me that he was brought up as an example of how this is necessary because he feels that some folks are mean to him in trying to find some measure of accountability.”
More people rose to speak against the bill after Clancy. Some were social workers and medical staff, who recounted being spat on, punched, kicked, scratched, and hurt yet never once considering criminally charging the person who hurt them. It’s a privilege that police officers have which they do not, the speakers argued. At one point, a Wisconsinite who wished to be identified only as G. Lee attempted to testify while wearing a hat that used an obscenity to criticize President Donald Trump. Committee Chair Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) called the hat offensive and got into an argument with Lee, after which he called for the assistance of the Capitol Police and called the committee into recess.
Wauwatosa Police Department squad cars responding during a standoff with protesters on July 7, 2020. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
When the hearing re-started, G. Lee was allowed to testify on AB-34 while wearing the hat, though he was warned any breaches of decorum would result in him being removed. Lee apologized that the hat “threatened or offended” Tusler, and stated that Tusler reacted from a position of power. Comparing that to the powers police have, Lee said “what scares me about the decorum set in this room, and the measure tied to this bill, is about power.”
Lee, speaking directly to Tusler, said that when the hearing was stopped because of Tusler’s feelings, “One of my concerns here is that we are privileging the feelings of law enforcement over the feelings of families who’ve actually lost loved ones to bullets. That’s an important thing to consider here. The whole system is set up to protect a particular part of the state power, and you’ve used your state power to make a message.”
This article has been edited to correct a misspelling of Menomonie, represented by Rep. Clint Moses.
Login
