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The Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s office received state funding for more staff positions between 2022 and 2026 than the state crime labs did.

Attorney General Josh Kaul made the claim during an Oct. 11 debate with Republican attorney general candidate Eric Toney, the Fond du Lac County district attorney. Kaul and Toney have debated backlogs in the state labs.

In the 2023-2025 budget, Fond du Lac County did not receive any new assistant district attorney positions, according to the budget documents. Kaul requested 16 new positions for the crime labs, including 10 DNA analysts. The Republican-controlled Legislature funded three positions, none of which were DNA analysts. 

In the 2025-2027 budget, Toney’s office received four prosecutor positions, one of several DA’s offices to receive new staff. 

In the 2025-2027 budget, Kaul requested 19 positions for the crime labs, but received none.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• WISN.com: Attorney general candidates spar over Trump, crime during 'UPFRONT' debate
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Summary of Provisions, 2023 Wisconsin Act 19
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Summary of Provisions, 2025 Wisconsin Act 15
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: AG race could focus on crime lab backlogs. Here’s what to know

Did Eric Toney’s office receive more new prosecutor staff than the state crime lab in Josh Kaul’s second term? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto powers in July 2025 to remove funding for four auditor positions from the 2025-27 state budget.

In his veto message, Evers said the provision would cost $408,400 over the two-year budget cycle. 

Evers said the Legislative Audit Bureau “has sufficient funding and position authority to fulfill its role of completing statutorily required audits and discretionary audits as directed by the Legislature.”

Evers and Republican legislative leaders reached a budget compromise in 2025 in which the governor agreed not to alter items in the agreement through partial vetoes, but Evers’ staff contended he could still use partial vetoes in other parts of the budget.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, cited the veto in September as part of a campaign pledge to increase the number of state auditors to increase state government transparency.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Gov. Tony Evers: 2025-2027 budget veto message
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Budget summary
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers issues 23 partial vetoes in state budget, about half the number from previous years
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tom Tiffany announces state government transparency plan

Did Gov. Tony Evers veto four auditor positions in the 2025-27 state budget? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin’s voter list from the state elections commission is available to the public — and to foreign countries — for a $12,500 fee. 

In a primetime speech on July 16, 2026, President Donald Trump said voter data had been “bought, stolen or hacked by China” in 18 states following the 2020 election. 

Wisconsin’s voter list is not known to have been hacked, and state election officials say election systems are secure. 

The voter list available from the Wisconsin Elections Commission includes names, addresses and whether a person voted in recent elections, but excludes other personal information such as date of birth, driver’s license number and Social Security number.

State laws don’t apply limits to how that data can be used once it is purchased, according to Wisconsin Legislative Council guidance. Buyers can use it “to contact individuals for any purpose.”

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• CNN: Trump’s speech claiming US election vulnerabilities, annotated
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump questioned election security. What to know about Wisconsin laws
• Wisconsin Legislative Council: Voter information as public record
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In reversal, feds proclaim Russians did not seek to hack Wisconsin's election system
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Contingency Planning and Election System Security

Can anyone buy Wisconsin voter roll data? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Technology companies are pursuing projects that would launch data centers into space — efforts called Starcloud at Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Project Suncatcher at Google.

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the idea is that, instead of consuming land, power and water on Earth, the orbiting data centers would harness the sun’s energy for unlimited power.

The projects are in the early stages of development, according to reporting from National Public Radio, and viability remains in question over the cost of launching servers into space, where the heat from the servers will go, and the logistics of maintaining and upgrading the technology.

While data centers in space are unlikely to happen in the next few years, studies, including one from Southern New Hampshire University, conclude space-based data centers could be a reality in the next decade.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Aldrich K. Wooden Sr.: Space-Based Data Centers: First Principles Deconstruction and Market Ecosystem Analysis Through 2035
• Wall Street Journal: Data centers in space: A pipe dream, or AI’s next big thing?
• National Public Radio: Big tech’s next move is to put data centers in space. Can it work?

Are tech companies working in 2026 to launch data centers into space? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.