Ex-Sheboygan Co deputy accused of threatening landlord hired by Marathon Co Sheriff

Former Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Mertzig was investigated in 2022 amid accusations from his landlords that he threatened to have code violations enforced against their properties. The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office hired him in 2025.

By Annie Pulley, THE BADGER PROJECT

A Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office deputy resigned amid an investigation into allegations he threatened to enforce code violations against his landlord after he was forced out of a rental property in 2022. Three years later, the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office hired him.

Jacob Mertzig worked for the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office from 2018 to 2022. That office flagged him in a Wisconsin Department of Justice database that tracks law enforcement officers who are fired or forced out of the job. He was marked as resigning prior to the completion of an internal investigation in that database. 

Mertzig’s landlords, Dawn and David Walczak, told investigators he constantly had problems paying rent for the Town of Sheboygan house he lived in with his wife and two young children from 2021 to 2022. They said only one month’s rent out of 12 was on time, according to the internal investigation by the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office, which The Badger Project obtained in a records request.

Capt. Andrew Seubert, Mertzig’s current supervisor at the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, told The Badger Project in an email that they completed a background investigation and knew why Mertzig left the sheriff’s department in Sheboygan County. Seubert said Mertzig was “candid and transparent” during the interview process.  

“After reviewing all relevant information surrounding the incident, including his ability to acknowledge and take responsibility for his actions, we determined he was deserving of the opportunity,” Seubert wrote. “Our decision has proven sound, as Deputy Mertzig has been a positive addition to our team.”

Mertzig, in his investigatory interview with the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office, said his time there had been “rocky.” He had problems paying rent because he and his wife were not financially stable.

Mertzig said in his interview that he told the sheriff and another deputy he had purchased the house rather than renting it. He told people that to “save face,” Mertzig said.

Dawn Walczak claimed that while visiting the property to make repairs in the spring of 2022, she saw live chickens in the dining room. She credits the animals with the extensive damage to the new carpeting they installed prior to the Mertzigs moving there.

Mertzig told investigators they had kept chicks inside for a couple of weeks but in a plastic trough. He said he didn’t believe the carpet was damaged as a result. Pressed further, he acknowledged that as the chicks got older, they’d hop the side and would run loose.

The Walczaks issued three, five-day notices to the Mertzigs for rent. His landlords then sent a final notice in April 2022. The family moved out in May 2022 and left piles of items in the yard, according to the investigation. 

On May 22, 2022, the Walczaks met Mertzig to hand off the keys. During this exchange, Mertzig told his former landlords he was running for the Town of Sheboygan constable, a position that would empower him to enforce code violations on property owners, according to an incident summary in the internal investigation.

Dawn Walczak said Mertzig told them that if they gave him any trouble, he’d look into violations against them. 

David Walczak told investigators Mertzig was concerned about his security deposit during that conversation. He said Mertzig mentioned the town was charging a nearby property $700 a day to get it cleaned up. The conversation shifted to what could happen to David Walczak, who had old machinery on his property. 

Mertzig said, “If you don’t behave yourself, I’m going to be coming back,” according to what David Walczak said in his interview with law enforcement. David Walczak told investigators he felt “intimidated” by Mertzig.

The Walczaks sent Mertzig a check for $425, a partial refund for Mertzig’s $1,300 security deposit, which factored in damage to the property and extra time spent on the property because they moved in early. On the check, the Walczaks wrote, “Congratulations on your new job as constable-Town of Sheboygan.”  

Mertzig acknowledged that he mentioned the town constable position to his landlord during that conversation in May 2022. He said he was “educating” the Walczaks about how their property could be violating town ordinances. He didn’t want to see his landlord run into the same fines for ordinance violations, Mertzig said.

“To me, it was an educational thing,” Mertzig said to the investigator. “In retrospect, maybe he took it as a threat.”

Later in the interview, Mertzig characterized the exchange with his landlord as occurring at a time he was “pissed off” and at a “boiling point” financially and in his marriage, according to the investigation documents. He was focused on getting his security deposit back, and “he was trying to nudge Dave into trying to give him his security deposit back.”

Mertzig said he wouldn’t have been surprised if his landlords felt threatened, according to the investigation.

The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office also spoke with Mertzig’s past apartment manager as part of its investigation. She described Mertzig as a problem and told investigators that she had a leaky pipe in his apartment fixed, but afterward, Mertzig complained that there was mold and insulted her character. He moved his family out in April 2021 without paying the final rent check and left a hole in the drywall where the original repair had been made, according to the investigation.

The previous apartment manager recalled telling the rental office, “He’s a cop. He’s going to cause us nothing but problems if we take him to court.”

The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office employs about 83 sworn employees at full staff, Seubert said. Mertzig works full-time and makes about $35 an hour, a couple dollars more per hour than his previous wage in Sheboygan County.

When asked if Mertzig would like to comment for the story, Seubert said “I do not think he has any additional information to add.”

This story was funded in part by a grant from the B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation.

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