Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson told Kenosha County Eye today that she would be permanently blocking her entire staff’s email accounts from receiving any emails from us. This, just after KCE emailed her asking for comment on an embarrassing jury trial loss in Kenosha.
Kenosha County Eye has had contact with Hanson many times over the last several years since we were founded in 2020 – none of them pleasant. She is arrogant, vindictive and petulant. Over the last four years, she has mostly ignored our emails. Once in a while, however, she has done something so embarrassing, that she tries to talk her way out of it.
KCE has been critical of her. Here are some Kenosha cases that Hanson has handled that came under scrutiny from “the eye.”
Kenosha IT Investigation into multiple felony referrals for former Kenosha Administrator Frank Pacetti and IT Director Merrill (Tig) Kerkman (Kerkman Still Works for the City making more than $100k)
NO PROSECUTION
Kenosha Firefighter Kerry Poltrock Multiple Sexual Assault of His Children
NO PROSECUTION
Kenosha Firefighter Kerry Poltrock Multiple Domestic Violence Charges Against His Wife
ALL CHARGES DISMISSED
Kenosha Police Officer arrested for felony child abuse.
NO PROSECUTION
Kenosha Police Officer Kendall West’s Multiple Day Felonious Crime Spree Ending with Attack of ER Doctor In Uniform On Duty
TWO MISDEMEANOR D/Cs
Former County Board Chairman Daniel Esposito Felony Shoplifting
Misdemeanor Charge
Connie Kmiec – Wife of Kenosha Attorney, Former Politician Batters Husband
NO PROSECUTION
Trenton Kmiec – Son of Kenosha Attorney, Former Politician Possession of Drugs
NO PROSECUTION
In 2022, when the embattled Pleasant Prairie public works director, John Steinbrink, Jr was charged with multiple felonies, we learned that Hanson treats media outlets differently, even though she wrote in a July 28, 2022 email that “under no circumstances do we favor one [media] organization over another.” KCE disagreed with her assertion because she gave the Kenosha News the criminal complaint for Steinbrink but made KCE purchase a copy for $1.25 per page.
Hanson told KCE that if we promised to be “professional” with her, she would add KCE to a daily email list of all of the criminal complaints. This made us happy and enjoyed the transparency. We asked Kenosha County DA Michael Graveley to implement the same policy, but he said “no” quickly.
Our relationship came to a head when The Racine DA’s office leaked a search warrant to a criminal before a raid, and the criminal and his friends were able to escape justice because they were tipped off. Hanson didn’t charge the employee. The county, however fired her. We ran a story on October 3, 2023 and asked Hanson why she let her employee commit a serious crime without any legal ramifications. She lied to us and told KCE that without a referral from law enforcement, she couldn’t charge Destiny Fergus.
KCE sent our story to Fox6 and on November 10, 2023, they ran a story about the employee. During this time, Hanson was mortified and embarrassed that Kenosha County Eye broke this story. She was so peeved, in fact, that she ordered her office to remove KCE from the distribution list of the daily criminal complaints.
She behaved like a petulant child. Legally, though what could she do besides be vindictive and block our access to her court documents? We noticed this long after the fact and asked her to reconsider. We then told her that we would be automatically sending her office a public records request every day for the list. We have a program that sends her assistant an email every day asking for the previous day’s email and documents. She ignored the requests for a couple of weeks until we threatened to sue. Now she has an employee at her office that is tasked with accepting our automatic email and forwarding the previous day’s email to us. This could all be resolved by re-adding us to the list. She won’t. She would rather burden her staff member than put us back on this list. This is Patricia Hanson – vindictive at the cost of law enforcement resources.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
On June 21, 2021, a convicted attempted cop-killer threw a jug of water towards DA Michael Graveley and DDA Carli McNeill moments after the guilty verdicts were read. The jug ended up hitting a police officer who was not in uniform. Graveley asked the Racine DDA, Chris Steenrod to prosecute the case. Weirdly, Steenrod charged the would-be-cop killer with a crime that contains an element that the defendant knew the victim was a police officer. Steenrod should have charged the defendant with reckless endangering safety. He lost this count in a jury trial this week as well as a resisting charge. Plainly put, the defendant wasn’t resisting.
KCE emailed Steenrod and Hanson and asked about her embarrassing loss in court. KCE understands that Hanson lives in Racine County and doesn’t care what happens in Kenosha County, but DDA Steenrod lives in Kenosha County. Steenrod also went very easy on Trenton Kmiec, the son of a former politician, and defense attorney. This is his community. He didn’t respond to the tough questions. Instead, KCE received an email from Hanson saying that her staff would be blocking KCE emails from now on.
(Facebook)
KCE is speaking to lawyers to decide how to proceed. It is her right to ignore tough questions, but as a public official, KCE doesn’t think she has a legal right to block people from emailing her. We’ll follow up later.
Drawing by ( https://twitter.com/tiniestyam )
36 Responses
It’s because you are over the target, keep the pressure on. Great work!
You forgot Yuhas who admitted breaking the law but wasn’t charged by Hanson.
Remember Yuhas is part of Pleasant Prairie swamp.
More info on this Yuhas is running…again….and has an opponent
Her and her stupid flowers she wears in her hair. How about obeying the law. Do as I say not as I do. Sounds like Willke.
One of many times Erin Decker and her cabal tried and failed. Maybe if it one of these false claims involved Deckers daughter writing checks to pay for mommy’s legal fees out of the Kenosha Republican Party bank account. Decker admitted under oath that she lied, had others file false complaints, and she even had at least five different emails to try and hide herself. What a POS.
Hanson is a waste of skin.
Lots of skin
Hanson is a dyke I’m assuming…..? Just judging based on haircut in the pic above.
Her dna has doomed her to failure
She gives cabbage patch dolls a bad name. 😞
she looks trans
Her dna is defective
I would like to know her e-mail address or even just the formatting of how they craft their e-mail addresses would suffice.
patricia.hanson@da.wi.gov
What is Hanson’s email address?
Maybe your readers can email her account to no ends to fix her.
Found this on the DA website for Racine County:
rcda@da.wi.gov
patricia.hanson@da.wi.gov
Let the games begin……
It’s not always wrong to decline prosecution or reduce a charge but the prosecutor should be able to say why. It’s not wrong to ask.
These people are paid by us, the taxpayers! They should have to answer legitimate questions, or lose their jobs.
Racine and Kenosha share a similar ideology and in doing so have become allies in the art of bullshit shit and cover thy ass.
Tom ‘Star Wars” Binger for example was appointed to sit on the Racine Fire and Police Commission (he lives in Racine?).
Often times the Mayor of Racine and the Mayor of Kenosha put forward very similar referendum items.
Hanson is a political hack, that is obvious and is going to to as told or else she will find her very large whale like carcass assigned as a public defender facing many who whe thrrew in prison. A grim future for sure but what is she to do?—Her future as a “only fans” model would be rather limited.
Anyway—Racines legal system and abuse of open records has a long history…interview Sandy Weidner sometime. Ms. Weidner fought the Racine legal system and beat them.
I almost feel bad for this woman . She clearly ( and appropriately) hates herself. Everything just follows.
It seems her and Gravely went to the same Cracker Jack law school and with weak minds fell into the socialist mentality. Clearly along with T bag and Lunch box they have enough talent to start a sitcom. None of the these people have any business in the Law Profession they truly give it a bad name ! Based on that they are elected and or appointed ( T bag twice to the same position.) With that being said, I had a professor in Law School once tell me, “Never estimate the stupidity of people in large numbers !”. You get what you vote for in both cases !
What she lacks in credibility she makes up for with her looks. A handsome fella for sure.
What a fat pig she is
She looks like a cha cha chia!
She is a libtarded dumocratic moron, the epidemic killing America!!! 🙄
Well this should prove interesting…….Trish the Dish will administer justice in a fair and impartial way no doubt….
“Racine County DA’s office investigating possible illegal campaign finance scheme between Trump and Adam Steen”
https://racinecountyeye.com/2024/02/23/illegal-campaign-finance-scheme/
>>>>>Keep in mind, that RacineCountyEye only sees the news out of it’s left eye. (just my opinion)<<<<<
There’s still plenty to eat so she’s good.
Is there anyone in Kenosha’s court arena that is judicially, ethically, constitutionally upstanding? Any one? Any two?
There are fewer choices for judges and lawyers who are actually into the constitution and the law. There’s a few. A few/
This woman is a perfect example of why voters need to stop listening to the county & state parties. Racine GOP is going to sell her as a Conservative Republican, just like they do King Vos.
Stop giving your hard earned money to the political party organizations. Stop voting for who they tell you to. Stop voting for incumbents. Until we stop supporting the current trash, all we’re going to keep getting is the same literal 💩.
Please add a new story to the website Kevin, every morning that I have to wake up and see that ugly mug of “Pat” is a horrible beginning to my day.
I agree with you Kala. Done.
Good work Kevin! Thanks for keeping us aware.