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A rural county in central Wisconsin has filed a lawsuit searching for to take away its county treasurer elected lower than a 12 months in the past and substitute her with the particular person she defeated in that election.
Adams County filed go well with final week asking the courtroom to declare that Treasurer Kara Dolezal “vacated” her place and her former opponent Kim Meinhardt is “entitled to carry that workplace.”
The go well with is basically searching for a judicial sign-off on a decision the Adams County Board authorized in late April. However state Rep. Scott Krug, a Republican who represents a portion of the county, argued throughout and after the assembly that the county adopted an unlawful course of to take away an elected official.
Dolezal, a Republican, defeated Meinhardt, an unbiased, by greater than 900 votes in November 2024. In April, Dolezal was reelected to her put up as city treasurer for the city of Lincoln in Adams County, a place she held previous to being elected to county-wide workplace.
In each the lawsuit and the county board decision, Adams County has argued Dolezal vacated her county workplace by accepting a “legally incompatible” place with the city.
In a assertion, Adams County mentioned it’s “assured in its authorized place.” The county mentioned it’s taking the difficulty to courtroom to carry “finality” to the scenario.
“Understanding that a whole lot of curiosity on this concern has discovered its manner into the media and on social media, the County shouldn’t be going to touch upon ongoing litigation or strive the case outdoors of the courtroom,” the assertion reads.
However Krug mentioned it’s lengthy been frequent in Wisconsin for individuals to carry related workplaces for each their city and county.
He mentioned he’s working with colleagues to introduce laws to make clear it’s doable for a similar particular person to carry positions as county and city treasurer on the identical time if each are elected positions.
“We’re particularly going to say that there isn’t any contradiction or incompatibility between the function of county treasurer and city treasurer when each are elected by individuals of their neighborhood,” Krug mentioned.
However he additionally mentioned the lawmakers are attempting to take action with out interfering with the courtroom’s course of.
“We’re making an attempt to be cognizant of the courtroom course of whereas we’re introducing laws,” Krug mentioned. “However on the identical time … we nonetheless need laws coming ahead to guard these people from having to undergo the identical sort of factor, and, on the flip facet of it, making an attempt to guard their communities from having to undergo exorbitant authorized charges.”
Whereas Dolezal has continued to carry out her duties as county treasurer following the county board’s vote, Meinhardt took the oath of workplace for the place on Could 12, in response to the go well with.
Dolezal has held each workplaces since January and was by no means requested to resign from her put up with the city, she instructed WPR earlier this month. In a Could 3 assertion, Dolezal mentioned she didn’t view the 2 positions as “incompatible” and she or he was clear about being a city treasurer when she ran for county workplace.
“The voters nonetheless elected me as their County Treasurer,” she said. “I consider it units a regarding precedent if County Board Supervisors can override the need of the voters.”
Dolezal’s legal professional, Catherine La Fleur, was not accessible for remark Tuesday.
Within the lawsuit, attorneys for the county mentioned public officers can not concurrently maintain incompatible workplaces, citing a previous state legal professional basic opinion that claims the duties of an area treasurer and county treasurer are “wholly inconsistent.”
“A city treasurer collects property taxes on behalf of, not solely the city, however the county, state, and different taxing jurisdictions during which the city is situated,” the grievance states. “Because of this, the city treasurer is subordinate to the county treasurer.”
After Dolezal took workplace with the county in January, the grievance states that disputes arose between Dolezal and native treasurers throughout the county in the course of the property tax settlement course of within the spring of 2025.
In line with the grievance, the dispute was “relating to the therapy of sure property tax funds, ensuing within the County directing an audit of the County Treasurer’s workplace.”
Mary Lou Poehler, treasurer for the city of Springville in Adams County, spoke in public remark on the county board’s assembly final month. Poehler mentioned “monetary points” had arisen with the county since Dolezal took workplace.
“Being a city treasurer, I do know of a whole lot of these,” Poehler mentioned on the April 29 assembly. “And our city, for one, was shorted fairly a bit of cash.”
However Krug, the realm lawmaker, mentioned the county didn’t observe the right course of for eradicating an elected official, which requires a discover, public listening to and two-thirds vote.
No matter whether or not the county felt each workplaces had been incompatible or had efficiency issues, Krug mentioned the board nonetheless ought to have adopted the course of outlined in state statute.
“You might simply observe a easy state statute course of to legitimize it,” he mentioned. “Once you take time to suppose and decelerate, you possibly can really accomplish the identical objective with out trying such as you’re making an attempt to do one thing behind the scenes.”
This story was initially printed by WPR.
