An Act to create 59.42 (4) of the statutes; Relating to: office of county board counsel in certain counties. (FE)
Summary
AB807 would create a new statutory office of “board counsel” in counties that already employ a corporation counsel and that also have either a county executive or county administrator. In those counties, the county board would appoint board counsel, and the position would serve at the pleasure of the county board. The bill also allows for deputy board counsels, who must be Wisconsin-licensed attorneys, and permits the county board to leave the office vacant if it chooses.
The bill is designed to give county boards their own independent legal adviser separate from the corporation counsel. Under the proposal, board counsel would provide legal advice and services directly to the county board, rather than operating within the county’s existing legal office structure. The bill would add a new subsection to s. 59.42 of the Wisconsin statutes and would apply only to a subset of counties meeting the specified governance criteria.
Impact
AB807 would amend Wisconsin county government law by creating s. 59.42 (4), establishing a new optional-but-authorized legal office for county boards in qualifying counties. It would not eliminate corporation counsel or change the corporation counsel’s role generally, but it would create a parallel, independent legal resource for the board. The practical effect would be to shift some legal support for county boards away from the executive branch or county administration structure and toward a board-controlled counsel office in counties that meet the bill’s conditions.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes are provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, support, or opposition in the available materials. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears administrative and structural rather than controversial on its face, but it touches on the balance of power between county boards and county executives/administrators, which is often a point of interest in local government legislation. The bill ultimately failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1, indicating it did not complete the enactment process.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is institutional independence and control: county boards would gain their own legal counsel separate from the corporation counsel, which could be viewed as strengthening legislative oversight at the county level. Opponents might view the proposal as duplicative, unnecessary, or as creating tension with existing county legal offices and executive administration. Because no hearing transcript is available, specific arguments from supporters or opponents are not documented in the provided record.