Gov. Evers Won't Remove Milwaukee DA Amid Petition

WAUKESHA, WI — Gov. Tony Evers said he won't act on a petition asking him to remove Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm from office and based his decision "on outside legal review," according to a letter signed by the Office of Legal Counsel.

Evers responded to a petition submitted by several Milwaukee County residents, including conservative group Empower Wisconsin, after the Nov. 21 Waukesha Christmas parade in which six people died.

The man charged in the incident had been released from custody earlier in the day after bail was set at $1,000 despite felony charges — bail that Chisholm later acknowledged was "inappropriately low."

The Empower Wisconsin petition accused the district attorney of "neglecting his duty to the citizens of Milwaukee County" and said that Chisholm should be removed from office.

In rejecting the petition, Evers' office said it "fails to meet the legal standards under state law for a governor to initiate removal proceedings."

"Your petition seeks removal based on neglect of duty, the letter you submitted suffers from. formal defects and fails to state facts supporting a for-cause removal. As to the formal defects, your petition suffers formal defects in failing to include an attestation to the truth of facts asserted.

"Your letter does not substantively identify any actions that the Milwaukee County district attorney was compelled by law to take but failed to do so and, as a result, the letter does not allege facts sufficient to initiate removal proceedings. Instead, your concerns relate to the district attorney's longtime bail recommendation policies and the level of bail set in specific cases. Bail decisions are ultimately made by the court.

"While an assistant district attorney recommends bail, it is the court that sets bail for a defendant. The governor has no authority to remove court officials who set bail. Nor does the governor have authority to remove an elected district attorney based on a decision by a court official made after hearing from both the defendant and an assistant district attorney."

Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow responded to the letter on Twitter.

"Gov. Evers has the gall to suggest that there weren’t enough ‘facts’ to fire John Chisholm. Here are the facts: John Chisholm’s office allowed a decades-long violent criminal to walk free and kill six people in Waukesha, and Tony Evers is refusing to hold him accountable," Farrow said.

Patch reached out to Chisholm's office Wednesday for comment.

Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, was charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Virginia Sorenson, LeAnna Owen, Tamara Durand, Jane Kulich, Wilhelm Hospel and Jackson Sparks in the parade incident.

More than 60 others were injured. Brooks was accused of driving his SUV through a crowd of paradegoers on Nov. 21. Brooks' bail was set at $5 million; he remains in custody.

After the parade disaster, Chisholm said Brooks' bail was "inappropriately low" considering the violent charges that were pending against him, including felony bail jumping, battery, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct.