The Marathon County Corrections Crisis Revisited

Julie Christensen

In the spring of 2013, I wrote a series of articles regarding an incident which happened in the Marathon County Jail.  An inmate with a mental illness and not receiving medication punched and severely injured Correction Officer Julie Christensen.  Due to her injuries, Christensen was in a coma for a long time and in ICU for months.

Fortunately, Christensen has recovered and is back on the job.

This past week, the assailant, Frederick Morris, entered a guilty plea for attacking Christensen and another corrections officer. He is scheduled to get sentenced in September and is facing very stiff penalties for his crimes, as he should.

However, another person who has a lot of responsibility for this incident has thus far escaped any consequences.

Investigation into the assault showed that there was a lot of problems going on in the jail, all stemming from the austerity measures of Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger.  These austerity-generated problems included severe overcrowding, a serious staffing shortage, an inoperative intercom system, lack of training and failure to supply Tasers to the officers.

These problems led to other problems as well.  For example, due to the staffing shortage, inmates that were allowed out for work release were not being searched when they returned, leading to an influx of contraband, such as cigarettes, drugs and weapons.

Unbelievably, even though this was reported, Karger has done little to fix the problems he helped create.  An article regarding Morris' plea also reported this:

The issue of overcrowding remained one year later.

Brad Karger

Yet Karger hasn't even received as much as a slap on the wrist for allowing these conditions to develop  and continue thought to even today.

This might not remain so for long.  As noted above, Karger is the county administrator for Marathon County.  That means he is under a contract for his job, a contract that will eventually come up for renewal.

The question that I hope that Marathon County supervisors are already pondering is whether the problems Karger is causing makes it worth renewing that contract.

I would say that it most certainly does not.  They need to hire someone who will look out for the citizens and the taxpayers of Marathon County.

Banding Together For Julie

Four months ago, Julie Christensen, a corrections officer in the Marathon County Jail was brutally assaulted by an inmate. In the assault, Julie took a severe blow to the head which put her in intensive care for weeks.

The assault was the result of austerity measures being taken by Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger.  The jail was overcrowded, understaffed and had faulty equipment.  It was a recipe for disaster.  Sadly, Correction Officer Christensen took the brunt of Karger's willful negligence.

The good news is that Julie is out of the hospital and back at home.  The bad news is she has a long road of recovery and it is not know how fully she will be able to recover.

To help her with her extensive bills and loss of income, her fellow officers and friends are organizing a fundraiser for her, which they are calling "Banding Together for Julie."

You can also get more information from the Wisconsin Professional Police Association's website for the event:

Julie Christensen Walk/Run/Bike Benefit – August 3, 2013

Officer Injured in Line of Duty

Walk/Run/Bike
5k Start/5k Return/Total 10k

(Participant may choose whichever they prefer)
on the Mountain Bay Trail, Weston, Wisconsin

• Saturday, August 3, 2013
• Registration 9:00am at:
  Dale’s Weston Lanes
  5902 Schofield Ave, Schofield WI 54476
  (MAP)
  Phone: 715-359-8488
  Web: http://www.westonlanes.com

• Hamburger and Hot Dog meals will be sold at reduced cost for all participants with a wrist band.
• $25.00 Per Person

Questions please email: juliecause@gmail.com

Get PDF of event and Release of Liability if you want to participate.

If you are unable to make it to the event, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403. Their phone number is (715) 845-0900.

The Marathon County Fix Is In

If the gentle reader will recall, a few weeks ago, tragedy struck the Marathon County Jail.

Due to the predictable results of Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger's agenda of austerity, the county jail is severely short staffed and dangerously overcrowded, which led to extremely unsafe conditions.

Sadly, Correction Officer Julie Christensen ended up paying the price for Karger's austerity when she was savagely struck by an inmate.  She's been in intensive care ever since.

After the assault, Karger and Chief Deputy Scott Parks teamed up to cover up the role that their austerity and neglect played in the tragedy.  Parks was a willing partner in this because he was hoping that Scott Walker would name him to replace the recently retired sheriff.

Sad to say, corruption still reigns in Fitzwalkerstan, and it looks like Parks will get his wish granted:

For a very short time Monday, this photograph was posted on a Facebook page for Trinity Lutheran School in Wausau showing Marathon County’s Chief Deputy Scott Parks and his wife Theresa posing with Governor Scott Walker, indicating Parks has been selected to succeed Randy Hoenisch as Marathon County Sheriff. The posting was taken down after about an hour. 

Twitter postings have implied Governor Walker was planning an official announcement of Parks as the new sheriff this coming Wednesday. So far, no comment from Parks or Governor Walker.

As outrageous as this bit of news is, I have a feeling that Parks is yet going to learn the true meaning of the old adage: Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

Another Day Another Safety Risk Found At Marathon County Jail

As I have been writing about for a few weeks now, the Marathon County Jail is a very dangerous place to be, due to severely unsafe conditions which stem from the violently assaulted by an inmate.  She was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head and has been in intensive care ever since.
austerity agenda of the Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger.  As a result of Karger's austerity, Correction Officer Julie Christensen had been put in harm's way and was

Since the assault, it was learned that the jail was severely overcrowded, dangerously understaffed, had broken equipment and guards were denied tasers to protect themselves.  All this happened even though there was enough money available to address these safety concerns.

Now, yet another safety issue has been found:

The central Wisconsin jail where two corrections officers were attacked last month performs only limited searches of inmates returning to jail from work-release programs, despite a 2011 recommendation to increase searches, according to a published report.

About 80 of the Marathon County Jail's 279 inmates are in the facility's work-release eligible section, the Daily Herald Media reported (http://wdhne.ws/10dgf9o ). When those inmates return to jail each day, they pass through a metal detector and are patted down for weapons. However, jail officials say they don't have enough staff to do strip searches, which means inmates could potentially sneak in weapons or other contraband.

Wisconsin's Huber Law, the nation's oldest work-release program for jail inmates, allows inmates to leave for up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, the Marathon County sheriff's department said. About 70 percent of those who leave are working, and the rest leave to search for jobs, perform community service, attend school or provide child care, former jail Administrator Bob Dickman said.

Dickman, who resigned last week in the wake of the March 27 attack on the corrections officers, said there are only limited searches because of a lack of manpower.

"We just don't have the staff," he said. "We did request an additional officer, just for searches, but right now, we don't do searches nearly enough."

Naturally, Karger denies this, claiming he went through seven years' worth of requests, but couldn't find one. Yeah, right.

Dickman, who was scapegoated by Karger and Deputy Sheriff Scott Parks, has no reason to lie about this. He's already out of a job.

Karger, on the other hand, doesn't want to give up his $117,000+ salary. It's pretty apparent that Karger's faith in austerity stops with his own paycheck.

Another reason that Karger would want to sweep the trouble under the rug is that his buddy Parks is in the running to be picked to be the new Sheriff. It just wouldn't do to have problems being brought up time and time again as Scott Walker is interviewing the candidates:

Then again, since Walker is the Archbishop of Austerity, Walker might think the more problems they have, the more austere they must be, and will earn his approval.

But just to be safe, Parks better have made sure he gave Walker a lot of campaign cash.  Nothing gets Walker's attention like money, and the more money you give Walker, the more of his attention you get.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

The Marathon County Corrections Cover Up Continues

Two weeks ago, I reported about a corrections officer, Julie Christensen, who worked at the Marathon County Jail.  She was viciously assaulted by an inmate who was reportedly not receiving proper care for his mental health issues.

Christensen has been in intensive care ever since the attack.

The kicker was that Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger knew for more than six years that the conditions at the jail were dangerous. Reports done by independent experts clearly pointed out that the jail was overcrowded and understaffed.  To make matters even worse, it was also revealed that the county had the money to at least partially address the safety concerns, but Karger sat on it because austerity!

Days later, it was revealed that the jail intercom system was not working and had not been working for years.  And as the staffing issue, it turns out that Karger had the money budgeted for it's replacement for three years, but again sat on that money because austerity!

To "address" the dangerous conditions at the jail which Karger created through his austerity agenda, the county announced they were going to create a citizens panel.  When the panel was announced, it raised red flags all over.  The panel was clearly designed to help cover up the role that Karger and his austerity played in this tragic, but completely avoidable, incident.

The cover up continued this week, with Karger and friends sinking to even lower depths.  They are putting on great airs of pretending to finally listen to the correction officers.  The hypocrisy in this is sickening when one considers that the guards have been asking for changes for years, only to have Karger to deny them time and time again. The reason for his callousness was, of course, austerity!

Even more egregious, Karger forced the jail administrator, Bob Dickman, to resign, because he suddenly "lost faith" in his ability to do the job.  It is obvious that Karger is going to use Dickman as the scapegoat for Karger's own willful failure.

The assailant has been charged with aggravated battery with the intent to cause bodily harm and battery by a prisoner, both felonies.  However, due to his ill thought out agenda of austerity, Karger should be held just as liable for his role in this.

He intentionally withheld funds which could have decreased the risk of such an incident occurring.  He had the wherewithal to increase staffing and properly maintain vital safety equipment, but chose not to.  That isn't being austere, that is being intentionally and grossly neglectful.

And if the Marathon County Board doesn't take action to address Karger's malfeasance, they are also as liable.

The real kicker is that even if people had supported Karger for saving them a few bucks in the short term, they are going to pay much, much more in the long term.  Not only will the taxpayers be on the hook for her medical care and any long term disability, but you know there will be one or two lawsuits filed regarding this incident.  One for the obvious failure to address the known safety concerns in an appropriate and timely manner.  The other would be if they truly were neglecting the inmate's mental health issues.

The latest report is that Christensen has been in an induced coma and is only starting to be allowed out of it.  The doctors see a long road of rehabilitation ahead of her.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

Is Marathon County Meltdown Becoming The Marathon County Cover Up?

Last week, I reported on a tragic incident which occurred in the Marathon County Jail, in which a corrections officer, Julie Christensen, was brutally struck by an inmate and knocked unconscious.  To make the tragedy all the more senseless and outrageous, we have learned that it stems from the acts of austerity by Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger which led to overcrowding and understaffing of the jail.  It was also revealed the Karger had the money to address the issue, but didn't use it.

Christensen is still in critical condition and has been described as "clinging to life."

To resolve the issue, Karger and Chief Deputy Scott Parks are taking only two steps.

One is to finally allow the correction officers to carry tasers, like they've been asking for for years.

The other is to name a citizen panel to "study security conditions at the jail."

At the time, I expressed concern on who would pick and who would be the members of this panel:

And while the citizen panel is a good idea, I would question how it will be decided who will be part of that panel.

If Karger is in charge of it, forget it. He's the idiot that caused this mess and he's already trying to escape accountability for his malfeasance.

The most responsible way to handle this would be to have the County Board appoint the panel, but there should be some voice given to the union, either in selecting some of the panel members or being on the panel itself.

The panel has now been named and, unfortunately, my concerns were well founded.

Parks has named the members of this panel. They are:

•  Former Rothschild Police Chief Bill Schremp who was willing to close down his own police department and merge it with Wausau's police, in order to save money;
• Mount View Care Center administrator Lori Koeppel who was praised by the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce for her cost cutting in the care of vulnerable adults;
• Intercity State Bank President Randy Balk - c'mon, he's a bank president! Where do you think his priorities lie?  Not to mention he's on the executive committee for the local Chamber of Commerce;
• LandArt owner Paul Jones who is also a director at the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce; and 
• Daily Herald Media General Manager Michael Beck - The Daily Herald is a Gannet owned paper.  Gannet papers were the ones that practiced McCarthyism on public employees as well as their own employees, that is when they weren't busy laying them off.

Not one union voice was included in the decision making or in the panel itself. Likewise, the County Board was left completely out of the loop.

But, as with all things austerity related, there is more.  There is always more.

It come pretty obvious pretty quickly that Karger and Parks are working together on covering up the effects of their agenda of austerity by appointing these people.

Take a look at what each of them had to say about this panel:

"The intent wasn't to get a panel of experts about jails. What we want is people who are capable of understanding the information presented to them," Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger explained.

[...]

"The correctional facility is a lot like a business, and we're looking to be successful in that business and these individuals bring something to the table to show they've been successful," Parks said.

One of the panel members, Jones, also iterated the business theme.

This automatically puts them on the wrong footing. Prisons are a governmental operation and do not necessarily correlate well with a business paradigm. If they did, we wouldn't have seen all the riots in private prisons in which guards were beaten, raped and/or killed.

The reason that Karger and Parks picked these people instead of experts in jails is that they want their austerity justified and to absolve themselves of their role in Christensen's injuries.

But Parks has another motivation as well.

He has put his name in to replace Sheriff Randy Hoenisch, who had recently retired under suspicious circumstances.  Governor Scott Walker is expected to name the replacement Sheriff in May.  Being a good acolyte of austerity, being dismissive of public workers and making this serious problem just go away would elevate him in Walker's eyes.

For people like Karger, it's all about the money and power, no matter who gets hurt.  Always has been and always will be.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.