Eau Claire Asking for a Response From the State on How to Handle Homeless Drop Offs in the City

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026 -- 8:01 AM

(Avery Martinez, Wisconsin Public Radio) Eau Claire leaders are asking for a response from the state about how to handle people who are homeless being shipped without their consent into that community.

According to Avery Martinez with Wisconsin Public Radio, the City Council voted unanimously last week to push for a response to a 2025 letter they sent to the Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul outlining the challenges of homeless drop-offs across Wisconsin.

In a meeting, the city’s attorney, Stephen Nick, called it a “common practice.” Nick said law enforcement agencies or other public agencies have been making transports to places outside their jurisdiction, and dropping off individuals in Eau Claire.

“It could apply to any individual, but the practice is focused on those unhoused and in some type of personal crisis,” Nick said. And Eau Claire Police Chief Matt Rokus told the Council it is not just Eau Claire. “Many other cities our size are experiencing the same thing,” he said.

Nick pointed to Waukesha, Wausau, Stevens Point and La Crosse as communities that said they have experienced the same issue. And earlier this year, the city of Madison signed onto Eau Claire’s letter to the attorney general, almost a year after Eau Claire sent the original document, Nick said.

Madison joined because of their own experiences with dropoffs, legal impacts and policy implications for municipalities, Nick said. Another major concern, for both communities, are civil rights.

“Also the cascading effect of Wisconsin residents being randomly transported back and forth to various municipalities with which they have no connection or reason to visit,” Nick said.

In a statement to WPR, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Justice said they are in “close contact with Eau Claire leadership and are assessing how the Wisconsin Department of Justice can be most helpful in responding to the need for guidance on this issue.”

The letter has four specific questions about drop offs, focused on the authority of officers to make dropoffs; jurisdictional concerns; financial obligations; and, if the practice is legal, the creation of best practices for agencies and organizations to follow.

Often, these dropoffs happen without an arrest, the letter states. Rather, individuals are approached by a uniformed officer who suggests they take a ride with them to another community. They are not released to any specialized facility, family member or expert, according to Nick.

“They’re just kind of dropped off outside of a closed shelter, or on a dark street corner, in an unfamiliar community, without any support or services,” Rokus said. Rokus said he’s heard many reasons or excuses for drop-offs over the years.

Most have to deal with a lack of resources, or simply not knowing what else to do with a person. “Reasons given aren’t necessarily in the best interest of the person experiencing hardship,” Rokus said.

Nick told the council that more people have been dropped off since the city sent its letter to the attorney general in 2025. One, he said, involved a situation where a person was brought to the area in handcuffs.

“Uncuffed, let loose on the streets of Eau Claire,” Nick said. “Where soon after, as an individual in crisis, created several incidents including one that required the complete clearing of a Culver’s.” The letter notes multiple other incidents. One, in 2024, involved a naked woman trying to enter a car, followed by other incidents involving Eau Claire law enforcement.

After looking into the woman’s background, Eau Claire officers discovered she had been a problem for St. Croix County law enforcement, before she was transported out of the county and left at an Eau Claire Kwik Trip, according to the letter.

Another involved a man being dropped off at an Eau Claire overnight shelter that wasn’t open at the time, the letter states. The man wasn’t doing anything illegal when he was transported and did not ask to be taken to Eau Claire.

“We believe these transports to be unlawful at worst and unprofessional at best,” the letter states. Nick said it’s a legal issue, as well as one of personal welfare, civil rights and public safety.

Rokus said that as the city waits for a response from the attorney general, Eau Claire police have created internal policies about handling drop offs. Eau Claire officers will not transport individuals outside the city’s corporate limits, unless requested by that person, and police are not allowed to suggest that option to an individual, Rokus said.

“Additionally, our officers are required to make sure that there’s some type of warm handoff to services,” Rokus said. Rokus said that was not a legal requirement.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.