Waushara County Sheriff must repay $22k plus interest in K9 stipends, board votes

An investigation by The Badger Project found that Sheriff Walter Zuehlke had continued taking a monthly stipend for years after quitting the trainings for his law enforcement dog Argo.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

Drawing cheers from the audience, the Waushara County Board voted Tuesday night that Sheriff Walter Zuehlke must reimburse more than $22,000 plus interest in K9 stipends he took after quitting the trainings of his law enforcement dog.

The vote was nearly unanimous at 9-1. 1st Vice Chair Mark Kerschner was the lone dissent. Board Supervisor Robert Wedell abstained.

An investigation by The Badger Project found that Zuehlke, a K9 officer before he became sheriff in 2019, had taken more than $20,000 in K9 stipends over the past several years from the county after quitting the law enforcement trainings with the dog. K9 officers receive the stipends to help cover the costs of the dog, which live with them.

The dog, Argo, died in August 2024, but Zuehlke continued taking the stipends for a few months after. He reimbursed the county $1,200 for those payments after the story ran, calling it an “oversight.”

Zuehlke told The Badger Project during that investigation that he transitioned the dog to a public relations role in the office when he became sheriff.

But a memo written in 2019 by the county administrator at the time said the sheriff, who began serving in the top cop role that year, could continue to receive the stipend until the dog and he are no longer serving as a K9 law enforcement team and are certified as a law enforcement K9 and officer, county attorney Ruth Zouski told the board.

“Hopefully the sheriff will do the right thing and just pay the money back.”

At a previous meeting, the board had asked county administration to refer the case to the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation division for potential prosecution.

But attorneys there “did not believe they could prove within a reasonable doubt that there was an intention to defraud the county,” Zouski told the board.

The board could recoup the K9 stipend funds from Zuehlke, Zouski said, as the terms of the memo were not met. Zuehlke received $26,675 in K9 stipends from the county once he became sheriff in 2019.

Argo last completed some training in 2019, the first year Zuehlke was sheriff, Zouski told the board.

From 2020 to 2024, Zuehlke got $22,175 in K9 stipends, so the board chose that figure to recoup from Zuehlke.

Should the sheriff try to fight the board action to recoup the money from him in court, the county could make the following argument, Zouski said:

“Former administration agreed to make these payments to you based upon these qualifications. You didn’t hold up your end of the bargain. You know you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain and we think you should repay it.”

“Hopefully the sheriff will do the right thing and just pay the money back,” Board Supervisor Patrick King said at the meeting.

Zuehlke did not immediately return messages Wednesday seeking comment.

The board also voted to require Zuehlke to repay interest on the $22,175 at the rate the county charges on delinquent property taxes. Zouski told The Badger Project on Wednesday she had not yet calculated the amount.

Zuehlke’s term, like all county sheriffs in Wisconsin, runs until the end of 2026. He previously told The Badger Project he had not yet decided if he would be seeking reelection.

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