This will come as a surprise to Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt, but he doesn’t get to overrule the state Supreme Court.
Recently, Schmidt intimidated town clerks in his county out of using drop boxes for the November election. He sent emails to the clerks suggesting that he would unleash a social media barrage if they used the boxes. When one town clerk said she planned to use a drop box as allowed under a recent Supreme Court ruling, Schmidt told her he would be issuing a press release saying that he had tried to the best of his ability to stop the practice.
He said he wouldn’t name her municipality as the one that didn’t comply with his advice, but that he would name it if asked. Not-so-veiled threat having been delivered, the clerk quickly backed down.
This is beyond irresponsible. Clerks and other election workers have been threatened with violence for the last four years thanks to Donald Trump’s lies about election fraud. Schmidt knows full well that he’s feeding into this misinformation and to those threats. As a far-right Republican he just doesn’t like drop boxes, so he’s decided to exploit his office and get way out of his lane to promote his personal political views.
In addition to his fanning of false claims of election fraud, he’s on board with Trump’s views on other issues. In July he told PBS Wisconsin, “I’m hopeful that people get out, they see what’s been going on over the last three and a half years, the nonstop flow [of immigrants and drugs across the southern border]. Four years ago and beyond that, we had never had a person who had supported law enforcement as much as Donald Trump. And we just haven’t seen that same support since President Biden has taken office.”
I’m not sure the law enforcement personnel at the Capitol on Jan. 6 felt so supported. Schmidt didn’t mention that.
It’s not unusual for sheriffs to have a partisan bias because they are elected on a partisan ticket, along with district attorneys and county clerks, treasurers and registers of deeds. But that casts a shadow even on actions that seem laudable.
For example, earlier this year Schmidt filed a complaint against the former warden of the state’s notorious Waupun prison and eight other prison employees. They may have been complicit in the death of two inmates, as Schmidt charges. But he also took the opportunity to attack the state Department of Corrections, run by a cabinet member appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. In fairness, I’ve done the same, but would Schmidt have filed the same complaint if the prisons were run under a Republican administration? I kind of doubt it.
Schmidt isn’t the only sheriff who fancies himself a constitutional scholar. In 2022, Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, who has also echoed Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, was informed that hard-right activists had committed voter fraud by requesting absentee ballots under the names of other voters. Instead of investigating them, he lauded them for exposing potential fraud and he blamed state elections officials for allowing it.
Some sheriffs in Wisconsin have even stated that they would refuse to enforce new gun control laws. The Polk County sheriff declared that he would not enforce federal gun regulations that he considered to be unconstitutional. In fact, Polk is among 20 Wisconsin counties which have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries where new gun laws won’t be enforced. This is especially delusional since they’re vowing not to enforce laws that have no chance of passing.
This is no isolated thing. There’s an organization called the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. The group preaches that elected sheriffs must “protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government” by refusing to enforce any law they deem unconstitutional or ‘unjust.’”
So these guys swear fealty to the Constitution — the same Constitution which sets up the Supreme Court to interpret it — but deny that the Court has that right when they simply don’t agree with their interpretation. Isn’t that unconstitutional?
To be sure, Dane County has had a long line of excellent sheriffs from both parties. But these men have all had resumes that might well have earned them the job as an appointed official.
I’ve often wondered why we elect sheriffs when we appoint police chiefs. The only requirement to be a sheriff is winning an election while chiefs are law enforcement professionals.
There’s simply no reason to elect sheriffs and, as Schmidt and so many others demonstrate, plenty of reason not to. Let’s change the law and get solid professionals in these positions. n
Dave Cieslewicz is a Madison- and Upper Peninsula-based writer who served as mayor of Madison from 2003 to 2011. You can read more of his work at Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos.
