By Wyatt Massey, for THE BADGER PROJECT

In the final years of the Coloma Police Department, two high-ranking Waushara County Sheriff’s Department officials made nearly $75,000 total for their part-time work running the village’s law enforcement agency. Yet, between 2021 and 2024, the pair issued no citations and made no arrests, according to an investigation by The Badger Project.

Waushara County Sheriff’s Lt. Stacy Vaccaro, who worked as Coloma’s police chief from 2019 until the village closed the department in 2024, did not handle a single case for Coloma in her final three years there, despite regularly reporting on her time card that she was on patrol during the time frame. Former sheriff’s office Chief Deputy Jim Lietz, who held the title of sergeant in Coloma, was responsible for a handful of the department’s nearly 500 cases between 2021 and 2024. The Coloma Police Department’s other part-time cops handled the rest.

Records from the village of Coloma and Waushara County, obtained and analyzed by The Badger Project, raise questions about the effectiveness of the moonlighting sheriff’s department officials in the roughly 450-person village that hugs Interstate 39 and follows a series of scandals related to the local sheriff’s office in central Wisconsin. 

Law enforcement experts noted that it’s possible the officers worked cases not captured in the records examined by The Badger Project. However, Vaccaro, Lietz, and the Waushara County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Village of Coloma provided some basic information about Vaccaro and Lietz’s time on the police force, but did not respond to specific questions about the pair’s responsibilities in leading the department or whether Coloma received any complaints about their police work.

For this story, The Badger Project reviewed timecards, payroll documents, and case lists related to the Coloma Police Department in the years before the end of 2024, when the village closed the agency. Since then, Coloma has contracted with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement coverage by a dedicated officer.

No arrests made, no citations written

The records show that Vaccaro and Lietz did not issue a citation or arrest anyone between 2021 and 2024. Lietz, the sergeant, was responsible for 21 of the department’s 477 cases during this time period. The police department in nearby Hancock, a comparably-sized village north of Coloma along the interstate, had more than 1,300 cases between 2021 and 2024, and its part-time police sergeant handled 120 of them, according to records obtained by The Badger Project.

In Coloma, Vaccaro’s monthly timecards between 2021 and 2024 show that she regularly reported working “admin/patrol” hours. However, department records do not list Vaccaro as having handled a single traffic stop, ordinance violation, or 911 call. In a 30-month period between June 2022 and December 2024, when she reported working more than 1,500 hours for Coloma, Vaccaro notified dispatch that she was working and available to take calls 14 times, according to radio logs obtained by The Badger Project. These instances occurred when she worked Coloma’s annual Chicken Chew, Christmas parade, and during Halloween trick or treating in 2023.

Between 2021 and 2024, Vaccaro and Lietz’s salaries and benefits cost Coloma more than $123,000, according to records. Lietz resigned from the sheriff’s office in October 2025.

Vaccaro is the romantic partner of Waushara County Sheriff Walter Zuehlke, and Lietz is a relative of his. All three live in the village or surrounding areas. Before Zuehlke was elected sheriff in 2018, when he worked as a K9 officer for the sheriff’s department, he also worked part-time as the police chief of Coloma. Vaccaro and Lietz replaced him after he became sheriff.

Other issues at the Waushara County Sheriff’s Department

Law enforcement in Waushara County has been under scrutiny following a series of reports by The Badger Project and local civilian muckraker Sam Wood, who is running for sheriff. Last year, an investigation revealed Zuehlke collected more than $20,000 in stipends intended to cover the costs of his police dog but did not continue with the animal’s training. In response, the county launched an independent investigation and Zuehlke agreed to return half the amount he was paid in K9 stipends.

In 2024, the sheriff’s office promoted Matthew Elliott from deputy to K9 officer despite an internal investigation two years earlier revealing he sent photos of his genitalia to other deputies, asked two male deputies to send pictures of their genitalia to him, requested a copy of an image of a juvenile’s genitalia that was part of a criminal investigation, and propositioned at least two female deputies, according to an investigation by The Badger Project. Elliott resigned in September 2025 after a records request by The Badger Project. The sheriff’s office noted in a statewide law enforcement hiring database that he “resigned in good standing.”

In December 2025, a Waushara County deputy with a history of unreliability in his reports and court testimony, Scott Schaut, resigned following reporting by The Badger Project on his work history and two cases that were dismissed due to the officer changing his testimony.

The Badger Project is an independent, reader-supported news nonprofit in Wisconsin.