CAEGI 0003 November Ads 2022x250

Kenosha County Eye

Walworth County Judge Won’t Overturn Demotion Of Kenosha Sheriff’s Department Sergeant

Share
Tweet
Sgt. Bill Beth of The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department (Right) – Hearing From 2021
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Walworth County Circuit Court Judge David Reddy signed an order today dismissing Sgt. Bill Beth’s appeal regarding his 2021 demotion from Captain to Sergeant. He was demoted by his cousin, David Beth, who was the Sheriff at the time, after allegations of misuse of comp time and insubordination.

Paid Advertisement

In December 2020, a few months after the Kenosha riots, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department commenced a broad investigation involving the use of “s days” or comp time as it is commonly referred to. Supervisors (Sergeants, Lieutenants, and Captains) at the Sheriff’s department are salaried and are not paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Comp time is paid time off designed to compensate a supervisor for working more than 40 hours in a week. During the riots, many of the hard-working supervisors had to work more than 75 hours in a week. To compensate the supervisors, Sheriff David Beth offered each one of them one paid 8-hour “mental health day”. Retired Captain Robert Hallisey was placed on administrative leave during the beginning of Bill Beth’s alleged conduct.  Hallisey allegedly approved comp time above the 8 approved hours without permission from his superiors or according to County policy. Hallisey retired in the middle of this internal investigation. Bill Beth drafted a memo with the help of his subordinates that outlined a policy that would allow supervisors to take a great deal of comp time within either a two week period or a 30-day period after the extra work was put in. According to Chief Deputy Marc Levin, Bill Beth implemented this policy and began to approve hundreds of hours of comp time unilaterally.

The County Board would have had to approve this expenditure. Kenosha County hired two private investigators with extensive law enforcement investigation experience to investigate the allegations. They found in the investigation that everyone told the truth and their stories lined up, with the exception of Beth. He was not truthful in the investigation, they concluded. He was also accused of gross insubordination – a fellow Captain described it as “the worst case of insubordination I’ve seen in my decades-long career.”

Paid Advertisement

Sergeant Beth appealed this decision to the County’s Finance and Administration committee. On June 22, 2021, the board voted to affirm this demotion. On August 27, 2021, Beth filed an appeal in Kenosha County Circuit Court. All Kenosha judges recused themselves and the case went to a Walworth County Judge. Per the order, which KCE doesn’t have a copy of, Beth will remain as a Sergeant. Beth is expected to retire this summer.

Author

  • Kevin Mathewson

    Kevin Mathewson is a disciple of Christ, husband and a father to two wonderful children. Mathewson was born and raised in Lake County, IL and worked as a police & fire dispatcher from 2005 to 2010 in Round Lake Beach, IL. Mathewson moved to Kenosha County in 2006, later being elected to the position of Alderman of the 8th District in 2012 and 2016. Mathewson is a private investigator, security contractor, journalist, and photographer. He enjoys spending time with his family, watching movies, camping and boating. His favorite amendment is the second, followed closely by the first. He loves his country and community.

Share
Tweet
LATEST NEWS

Carthage Students Protest Embattled Carthage President John Swallow’s Handling Of Sexual Assault

A Kenosha man named Cortez L. Newman was recently arrested and charged with second degree seuxal assault. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for up to 40 years. According to the criminal complaint, the assault happened on August 20, 2023. Newman is alleged to have raped a woman and the details are so gruesome, that KCE will not be sharing them here. The victim sought medical treatment on September 6, 2023, and had a

Read More »

Feel-Good Friday – A Kenosha Judge Who Shows Kindness Everyday

Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge, The Honorable Anthony Milisauskas graduated from the University of Illinois, Chicago School of Law in 1983, and was admitted into the Wisconsin bar in 1984. Judge Milisauskas was born and raised in Kenosha. Judge Milisauskas opened a law office and worked for himself until 2005. From 2001 to 2005, he was a Kenosha County Circuit Court Commissioner and a guardian ad litem. He was also a Somers Municipal Judge from 2000-2005.

Read More »
MORE TOP STORIES

County Executive Hires Woman Fired For Fraud, Under Criminal Investigation

County Executive Samantha Kerkman isn’t answering any questions about a very risky hire she made a few months ago – Sherry Kruse. Kruse is the County’s new Veterans Benefits Representative. Before County Executive Samantha Kerkman hired her for the important role, she worked for the Veterans Assistance Commission of Lake County as its Assistant Superintendent. According to her personnel file, released by VACLC by means of a F.O.I.A. request, she had been in extremely hot water

Read More »

Kenosha Woman Announces Bid for Mayor

Elizabeth Garcia quipped Kenosha is her hobby, saying “I wish it were my job!” A workingmother who uses her free time towards bettering our city, Garcia has announced her bid forMayor of Kenosha. Enthusiastic and determined Garcia asserts, “ I am solution oriented: when Isee a problem, I try to fix it. If I can’t fix it, I find out who can. I want Kenoshans to know theirtax dollars are being used in meaningful ways; I

Read More »

Kenosha College Student Thanks Lawyer For Her Recent Exoneration For Charges Related To Near-Deadly Crash

On May 19, 2023, Marissa Chon was doing what many college students do on a Friday night – drinking alcohol with friends. She was with her then-boyfriend, Elijah J. Schoffstall, a Carthage soccer player. At about 2:21 am, the two were involved in a serious car wreck at Carthage College, a school where they both attended. Both were severely injured and were lucky to survive. Police and bystanders quickly arrived at the scene of the crash

Read More »

Kenosha Judge Eviscerates First Amendment In Bizarre Ruling – Opinion

Circuit Court Judges like David Wilk (D) can’t change the first amendment, no matter how much they hate it. It’s part of our great Constitution and there are many layers of the judiciary above the circuit coirt that work as checks and balances. That doesn’t mean that they can’t try, however. That’s exactly what David Wilk tried to do in an oral/written ruling from this past Monday. Let’s start with Judge Wilk’s beginning. Wilk attended Hamline

Read More »

Embattled Director Of Women’s Shelter Drops Lawsuit That Was Allegedly Filed Illegally

The embattled director of Women and Children’s Horizons dropped a lawsuit yesterday, two weeks after it was filed, and only 10 days after KCE published an article alleging she was practicing law without a license. According to a 8-count findings document outlining an investigation into misconduct, Paine was disbarred May 20, 2023. The documents says in part, “After proceedings conducted pursuant to [Michigan Supreme Court Rules], the panel found, based on [Paine’s] admissions to all of the

Read More »

Man Who Escaped Kenosha Prison In July Captured In Milwaukee County, Was In Possession of Firearm

On July 26, 2023 a State Prison inmate named Parish Eckford escaped from a Kenosha Prison. This is a State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections Facility and not associated with the Sheriff’s Department jail. Eckford was serving a 16-year prison sentence for the following convictions in Milwaukee Circuit Court: Eckford was scheduled to be released the month he escaped. He previously served 5 years for armed Robbery. The prison, is a minimum security prison that is

Read More »

7 Responses

  1. I commend the former Sheriff, David Beth for doing the right thing and not turning a blind eye since this was his cousin, who obviously thought he would get away with it.

    Perhaps the former Sheriff can teach Steinbrink SR a thing or two on what the word ETHICS means and about doing the right thing!!! Then again, JR should never have been hired due to the conflict of interest with him reporting up to tje old man!!

  2. This was a common practice for more than 25 years. If anyone should be held accountable it should have been the former sheriff. Not his scape goats . He was well aware of what was going on . Yet denied it as did others.

  3. The former sheriff should be put on a pedestal for his ethics, just like Joe Biden should be put on a pedestal for his ability to speak coherently without a teleprompter.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to updates

Get notified of new articles. We'll never share your email address.