Fourth District Court of Appeals Halts Clark County Sheriff's Lawsuit Against the County
Friday, February 24th, 2017 -- 11:13 AM
-The Fourth District Court of Appeals has halted the Clark County Sheriff’s lawsuit against the county.Back in March of 2015, Clark County Sheriff Greg Herrick had filed a lawsuit against the Clark County Board of Supervisors and Clark County Law Enforcement Committee after they began to review and question his purchase of a $35,000 Dodge Ram pick-up truck. There was concern among the committee, board and county that the sheriff had purchased the truck for his own personal use, which Sheriff Herrick denied. In April of 2015, the board reversed a decision they made to keep him from using the truck as he already had it. However, the court case continued as the sheriff felt that the county board was over reaching with his constitutional spending authority as an elected official of the county. In November of 2015, a Portage County judge overseeing the case dismissed it on several grounds.
On Thursday, the Fourth District Court of Appeals unanimously agreed that the case had been properly dismissed. It is unclear whether the sheriff will seek a review by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The following is a press release from Sheriff Herrick:
FEBRUARY 23, 2017---FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF HERRICK RESPONDS TO
THE WISCONSIN COURT OF APPEALS DECISION
"I respect the Court of Appeals decision issued today. I believe that this decision brings clarity to the Office of Sheriff’s ongoing relationship with the Clark County Board of Supervisors. In particular, the Court of Appeals stated, “Put differently, when the Sheriff now contends that he ‘intends to exercise his constitutional and statutory authority to make expenditures from his approved budget without Board intervention in order to fulfill his sworn duties’, we have no concrete reason to believe that this will not occur in the absence of an injunction”.
Past press coverage has suggested and implied that I, as Clark County Sheriff, have misused my constitutional authority as Sheriff. I have not. From the Court of Appeals’ Decision, it appears that it will be up to the Clark County Board of Supervisors to file an injunction with the court to prevent me from exercising my constitutional authority and power as the Clark County Sheriff. I fully intend to continue to exercise my constitutional authority over an approved budget in order to fulfill my constitutional duties to the citizens of Clark County.
With respect to the Clark County Board of Supervisors, particularly the Law Enforcement and Emergency Management Committee, if they still maintain that I exceeded my constitutional authority, as the Clark County Sheriff, they should proceed to file for an injunction against the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Let there be no doubt that I will continue to operate the Clark County Sheriff’s Office as a constitutionally elected office because I represent, and I will continue to protect and serve, “WE THE PEOPLE”, who elected me. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office will not be intimidated by any Clark County Board oversight committee because the Clark County Sheriff’s Office is not, nor has it ever been, a county department. There is a clear and critical distinction between a constitutionally elected official and a county department head, and I will maintain that distinction."
Sheriff Gregory E. Herrick, Office of the Clark County Sheriff
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