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KENOSHA, Wis. — A private investigator working for embattled former politician and drug-using attorney Ted Kmiec privately contacted a Kenosha County District attorney staffer last month to request an unredacted death investigative report as what she explicitly described as a “very large personal favor,” according to internal emails obtained by Kenosha County Eye.
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The email exchange surfaced after Kenosha County Eye conducted a routine spot check of public-records requests received by the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office. As part of that process, Kenosha County Eye regularly submits public records requests to government agencies to review what records have been requested and how those requests are handled. The email chain was produced in response to one such public records request made to the DA’s Office.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
The request originated from Julie Metzler, who previously used the surname Julie Brodsko, and who works for the law firm Kmiec & Noonan. In her email, Metzler asked a prosecutor to authorize the release of unredacted police reports and related materials from a death investigation and copied Kmiec on the request.
Rather than granting the request, the prosecutor forwarded the email to Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis, who responded decisively.
In his reply, Solis made clear that his office would not provide the requested records and that prosecutors should not be contacted to perform personal favors. He emphasized that the district attorney’s office is not the custodian of police records and instructed that any future requests of that nature must be directed to the appropriate police agency through proper channels.
Solis also noted that authorization for the release of unredacted records is handled by the police department that maintains those records, not by prosecutors, particularly when the matter is not pending or prosecuted by his office.
The email exchange raises concerns about professional boundaries and insider access, particularly given that the request was framed as a personal favor and that Kmiec was copied on the message. It also raises broader questions about whether similar informal requests may have been made — or granted — in the past under previous district attorney administrations, an issue that remains unclear based on the records reviewed.
Under Wisconsin public records law and standard law-enforcement practice, unredacted death investigation reports are not released simply because a requester has private investigator credentials. Being a licensed private investigator does not, by itself, entitle someone to receive unredacted death investigative materials.
According to Kmiec & Noonan’s own website, Metzler has recently obtained a Wisconsin private investigator license. Metzler also serves the office’s paralegal.
Since joining the firm, the website states Metzler has overseen office operations and daily functions, assisted with legal research, trial preparation, and jury trials, and applied her professional background to support the firm’s legal work.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Separately, Kmiec & Noonan has recently added a new member to its law firm. Long-time public defender Mackenzie Renner appears to be affiliated with the firm, and the office appears to share internal resources, including Metzler serving in a dual role as both paralegal and investigator.
Renner is known locally for a dramatic and boisterous courtroom style. Based on firsthand observation in a recent court hearing, Renner appeared to struggle with basic rules of evidence — issues typically covered in introductory law school coursework. That assessment is editorial opinion based on courtroom observation. I am not an expert on defamation law — you are — but the characterization reflects opinion, not a statement of undisputed fact.
Solis’ response left little ambiguity: prosecutors will not authorize unredacted releases as favors, and such requests must be directed to the proper records custodian and handled through established legal processes.
6 Responses
All his life, Kmiec operated as if he were asking for favors. He hasn’t realized that those days are over. Kudos to Mr. Solis for his integrity, and even more to the anonymous prosecutor who escalated the favor request. It’s a great article that clearly shows the DA’s office is no longer the favors factory it once was.
Didn’t Brodsko work at the jail?
DRUG USING ATTORNEY!!! 🤣🤣🤣 THIS IS PRICELESS!!!
You are.
Maybe I’m mistake but can’t lawyers ask for such things under discovery..?
Discovery is for an attorney and their staff working on a case. If she wanted the unredacted report as “a personal favor” I suspect she wasn’t actually acting in an official capacity and probably isn’t entitled to the information.