(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis’ Wisconsin law license was temporarily suspended Monday morning after he missed a deadline in an ongoing Office of Lawyer Regulation investigation. Solis received an email at approximately 11:15 a.m. notifying him of the suspension, which was not based on the merits of any complaint against him but instead resulted from the missed deadline. Deputy District Attorney Rosa Delgado is now serving as acting district attorney while Solis is unable to practice law.
The State Bar of Wisconsin’s online attorney directory listed Solis’ license status Monday as “Suspended Disciplinary.” At roughly the same time, the Wisconsin Court System’s separate lawyer-status database continued to list Solis as active and in “Good Standing” and stated that there was currently no public disciplinary history for him. Both databases identify Solis by Wisconsin Bar No. 1093344.
OLR Investigation Expanded
Solis has been the subject of several complaints filed with the Office of Lawyer Regulation. One stemmed from his undisclosed use of artificial intelligence in a court filing earlier this year. Solis acknowledged in February that AI was used as an assistive drafting tool in a brief and that he failed to make a disclosure required under a Kenosha County court rule. The filing also included a citation to a case that did not exist. Solis apologized for the error and said it would not happen again.
Other complaints were made by former Kenosha County Deputy District Attorney Andrew “Drew” Burgoyne. Burgoyne, a longtime prosecutor, was selected by Solis to serve as his deputy after Solis was elected district attorney. He later left the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office.
The OLR subsequently expanded the scope of its investigation to include Solis’ former private-practice clients from before he became district attorney. That expansion required Solis to review years of records involving hundreds of former clients and locate letters and other information requested by investigators. The process required hours of reviewing old files, and the temporary suspension ultimately resulted from a missed deadline connected to that investigation rather than a determination that any of the underlying allegations were proven.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Delgado Takes Over As Acting DA
With Solis’ license temporarily suspended, he cannot presently perform the legal duties of district attorney. Deputy District Attorney Rosa Delgado has assumed those responsibilities and is serving as acting district attorney while the suspension remains in effect.
What the suspension means for Solis’ elected office itself is less certain. Wisconsin law specifically identifies circumstances that create vacancies in public office, including death, resignation, removal from office and certain criminal convictions, but a temporary suspension of an attorney’s law license is not expressly listed. Wisconsin law also contains separate provisions dealing with the suspension of a district attorney from office, but those provisions involve circumstances different from the OLR action against Solis.
That leaves an unsettled question as to whether Solis remains the elected Kenosha County district attorney while temporarily unable to exercise the legal duties of the office, or whether the law-license suspension creates a vacancy requiring some other process. For now, Delgado is performing the duties of Kenosha County district attorney while Solis’ license remains suspended.
Kenosha County Eye will update this story as more information becomes available about the duration of the suspension and the underlying OLR proceedings.
.
.
.
.
.
.
One Response
She was just online calling cops on an innocent man with a cellphone recording on sidewalk. On phone boasting about her position and who she is!!!! Man broke no laws!!!!