More than a year before the GOP primary, a rural Wisconsin sheriff’s race is heating up, with the former and current DAs taking different sides.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

The primary election for Waupaca County Sheriff is more than a year away, but accusations between the incumbent and his presumptive challenger are flying.

Former Waupaca County Sheriff’s deputy Justin Malueg, planning to run against current Sheriff Tim Wilz, contends that Wilz and Waupaca’s District Attorney are collaborating to prevent him from working in law enforcement. Malueg also says Wilz, the highest-ranking Republican in the county, is blocking his membership application into the Waupaca County GOP.

Wilz says that Malueg “has been found to be untruthful on multiple occasions” while he was working for the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office.

The current Waupaca District Attorney supported Wilz’s assessment — at least in a 2024 letter. But the former District Attorney agrees with Malueg, calling him “a compassionate and skilled officer” with nothing in his personnel file to suggest that he’s dishonest.

The dispute has its roots in 2022 criminal court proceedings after a controversial vehicle search by a Waupaca County Sheriff deputy — whose follow-up Malueg criticized and used as part of his motivation to run for the position. Wilz has been sheriff since he was first elected in 2018.

During the proceedings, the court was attempting to determine the legality of the search. Wilz and a detective captain in his office testified that command staff regularly “corrected” investigative reports of subordinate officers.

News reports at the time quoted then-District Attorney Veronica Isherwood saying that the testimony of the top command in the sheriff’s office altering reports put every pending county prosecution “in jeopardy.” News reports also stated that the judge in the case, Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Ray Huber, said “there could be lots of dirty hands here” and that “the department as a whole, from the sheriff on down” had violated a law requiring prosecutors to disclose to defense attorneys during court proceedings significant evidence favorable to a defendant.

After the judge’s determination that a so-called Brady violation had occurred, Isherwood sent 79 of what are commonly known as “Brady letters” to defense attorneys with pending cases in the county to notify them of the sheriff’s testimony.

Wilz then filed a complaint against Isherwood and her office, but the resulting outside investigation by the Outagamie County District Attorney found that the Waupaca County District Attorney’s office had acted properly.

Then employed by the sheriff’s office, Malueg said he became vocal at this time, expressing his disapproval of how the sheriff and others in the office handled the search and the aftermath.

“I started speaking out and saying that if things do not change around here, I was going to run for Sheriff,” he wrote in an email to The Badger Project.

Malueg, who started in the Waupaca County Sheriff’s office in 2020, resigned in 2024 and contends he was forced to resign after criticizing the search and suggesting that he may run for sheriff.

In an email, Wilz said Malueg was not forced out.

“He voluntarily submitted his resignation with union representation,” Wilz wrote. “His decision to resign was related to an active internal investigation that was based upon his work performance and had nothing to do with his political views.”

Shortly after Malueg’s resignation, Waupaca County District Attorney Kat Turner sent a Brady letter to defense attorneys with pending court cases Malueg had worked. The letter questioned the truthfulness of some statements Malueg made in previous investigations.He denied that accusation and said it was cooked up to damage him before the election.

Malueg recently filed a complaint on Turner with the Office of Lawyer Regulation under the Wisconsin Supreme Court and sent a large report to the county’s three circuit court judges arguing that the Brady determination in his case was based on incorrect information. Turner told news outlets that she stood by the decision.

But Isherwood backed Malueg in the dispute. Though she declined to comment for this story, she directed The Badger Project to a 2024 recommendation email she sent about the whole situation to the chief of the Poynette Police Department, who was considering hiring Malueg at the time, and eventually did. He now works there.

In the email, Isherwood wrote that she had reviewed every document in Malueg’s personnel file, “and there is NOTHING that indicates that Deputy Malueg engaged in any behavior that could be considered dishonest. It does, however, contain very complimentary employment evaluations.”

“I’ve worked with Justin for years and have found him to be a compassionate and skilled officer,” Isherwood wrote. “Furthermore, I am aware that Justin spoke to people about his intention to run for Sheriff. This could have played a role in this whole situation.”

Isherwood wrote that Turner “embellished” Malueg’s disciplinary record, which The Badger Project obtained from the sheriff’s office. It consists of three infractions: an accident with his squad car and twice having contact with a person supervisors had told him to avoid while on duty.

In an email, Turner responded that Isherwood “was not privy to any of the investigative reports which I had reviewed as part of the process of making a determination regarding whether a Brady notice was necessary.”

“Simply put, she is misinformed regarding her description of the disciplinary record,” Turner wrote.

In the email to the Poynette Police chief, Isherwood said Turner did not have her facts straight. Isherwood noted that Turner told her a sheriff’s office captain had said Malueg lied to him during an investigation.

When Isherwood followed up with the captain, he told her he was not involved with the investigation, she wrote. Isherwood also noted that the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office has refused to release the recording of a conversation with Malueg in which the office said he was untruthful.

“There is simply no proof and potentially exculpatory evidence is being withheld,” Isherwood concluded on whether Malueg had been untruthful and committed a Brady violation. “I have never heard of anyone issuing a complaint under Brady with no proof and just proceeding at the request of a Sheriff.”

Isherwood resigned from the Waupaca County District Attorney position at the end of 2022. She now works as a Marquette County assistant district attorney.

BLACKLISTED FROM WORKING

Malueg now works as a police officer for departments in Poynette and Shiocton – both towns outside Waupaca County.

But landing those jobs turned out to be challenging, he said, after attempts to find another law enforcement position in his home county of Waupaca proved unsuccessful.

Malueg blames members of the Waupaca sheriff’s office, saying they told police departments in the county that he would be prevented from accessing the sheriff’s office or the county jail, which would have made a job as a law enforcement officer difficult.

To support his contention, Malueg provided an email from Manawa Police Chief Jason Severson in which the chief confirmed that the sheriff and another employee had stated Malueg would be blocked from entering the Waupaca sheriff’s office or county jail.

Asked if he or his office had tried to block Malueg from getting hired elsewhere in law enforcement, Wilz said he cannot “speak for the police chiefs in our county who have also chosen not to hire Mr. Malueg.”

Severson did not respond to an email seeking comment, nor did the chiefs who now employ Malueg in Poynette and Shiocton.

REJECTION FROM LOCAL GOP

The other issue – Malueg’s contention that Wilz is blocking Malueg’s entry into the Waupaca County GOP – arose in August of 2024.

That month, the Waupaca County Republican Party Chairman, Joel Bartel, wrote a short email to Malueg in response to his application to join.

“The Executive committee has reviewed your membership application, which is something we always do, and have declined your membership!” it read. “Thank you for your interest in the Republican Party of Waupaca County.”

Malueg provided emails to The Badger Project showing his repeated attempts to gain membership to the county party since then.

Membership in the county GOP is very important in rural Wisconsin, where most of the counties vote Republican, especially in sheriff elections.

Asked if he was involved with the local GOP’s rejection of Malueg, Wilz wrote in an email, “you may consider contacting the Republican Party of Waupaca County, who may offer insight into their own decision making. I cannot speak on their behalf.”

Bartel did not respond to a request for comment.

Malueg said Wilz and his office are retaliating against him “because they know I have a very good chance at winning.”

“Which would mean some serious change,” he wrote in an email to The Badger Project. “I have tremendous support already throughout the county, I have a large following on social media, I have people wanting to donate to my campaign already, and I am from the area.”

Back in 2022, even after the Brady violation stemming from the vehicle search and his court testimony, Wilz easily won the Republican primary election and ran uncontested in the general election.

“As a final note,” he wrote in an email to The Badger Project, “I am running for re-election as Waupaca County Sheriff in 2026 and remain committed to transparency and accountability in law enforcement.”

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.