Walworth County 2020 Budget May be Illegitimate

The Walworth County Commission Follies continue. According to the Mobridge Tribune, the county budget for 2020 may be null and void due to the commission’s failure to follow the law:

Walworth County Commissioners may not have legally adopted the 2020 budget for the county according to Walworth County State’s Attorney Jamie Hare. He said on Tuesday that in his opinion the process was not followed. He said although the resolution to pass the budget was voted on and passed, that resolution was not read aloud at the meeting and therefore is not legally adopted. Hare also said not all the commissioners on the board signed the budget, another step in the legal process of adopting the annual budget.

Hare said in his opinion the budget process was not followed according to the law, therefore has not been passed legally [Katie Zerr, “2020 County Budget May Not Have Been Legally Adopted,” Mobridge Tribune, 2019.11.07].

We could ask Walworth County Auditor Rebecca Krein to check on that and tell us what happens if the budget is illegal, but…

County auditor Rebecca Krein was unavailable for comment on this issue as she is out of the office for several days [Zerr, 2019.11.07].

The Walworth County Commissioners had better fix this budget problem quickly; State’s Attorney Hare has been known to arrest county officials for breaking the law. Then again, if they just wait eight weeks, they won’t have to worry about being arrested, since Hare and the sheriff and the jail in Selby won’t have the money to cuff and stuff anybody!