SOMERS, Wis. — Tammy Jo Rose, the former bailiff for Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Chad Kerkman, accused two different men of sexual assault in separate incidents less than eight months apart. During the first investigation, Kenosha County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Rohrs wrote, “Based on my training and experience, I believed Rose to be lying to us about certain details.” In another part of the same report, after deputies reviewed messages on Rose’s phone, Rohrs wrote that the messages “prove that Rose was lying and that she never texted to call 911.” A follow-up detective later concluded Rose’s account was so inconsistent with surveillance video, witness statements, body-camera footage and other evidence that there was “no probable cause to believe a sexual assault was committed.” Deputies also discovered what one man described as Rose’s “drug box,” containing suspected mushrooms, THC products, a syringe with an unknown brown liquid and drug paraphernalia. Rose was never charged with a drug offense arising from the discovery.

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The first incident began on Aug. 25, 2024, when Rose called 911 from her Somers home and initially reported what sounded like a burglary in progress. Dispatch records show Rose said a man was inside her house, that he was on drugs, and that she was hiding in a bathroom with a Glock while deputies responded.

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Deputies found the man inside Rose’s kitchen. According to the Sheriff’s report, he immediately cooperated with deputies and said Rose had invited him to the house. Rose later told deputies the man had raped her upstairs.

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From the beginning, however, deputies documented major problems with Rose’s account. Deputy Deundrae Jackson wrote in his initial summary that Rose’s story was “extremely fluid” and contained “many discrepancies.” No charges were requested against the man at that time because of what Jackson described as numerous problems with Rose’s statements.

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Rose initially said she had gone to J&M’s Bar & Grill for dinner, met the man there and later became uncomfortable when he followed her home. She acknowledged, however, that she did not lock the doors when she entered her home, did not tell him to leave when he entered and later allowed him to use the shower in her master bedroom.

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Rose also told deputies she grabbed a revolver from her bedroom closet and threw the gun downstairs to her minor daughter’s 17-year-old boyfriend, while keeping a second gun, a black Glock, in her purse upstairs.

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She later claimed she had grabbed the boyfriend’s phone and typed, “If I scream call the cops.” But when Rohrs reviewed the actual messages on Rose’s phone, he reached a very different conclusion. The messages included pleas from another person inside the house to let them call police, including “please let me call” and “for my own sake get him out im genuinely scared.”

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Rohrs then wrote:

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“Additionally, these messages prove that Rose was lying and that she never texted to call 911.”

Deputy Michael Rohrs documented other credibility concerns as well.

Rohrs wrote that Rose became defensive when deputies challenged inconsistencies in her story and began changing portions of her account. Rose also told deputies she knew how the criminal justice system worked because she worked in Branch 8 of the Kenosha County Courthouse.

Rose said the rape occurred on top of her bed, according to Rohrs. He wrote that the comforter appeared neatly made, nothing appeared out of place, and he observed no red marks or bruises on Rose’s exposed skin.

Rohrs then wrote:

“Based on my training and experience, I believed Rose to be lying to us about certain details.”

Deputies Find “Drug Box”
During the same investigation, the man told deputies Rose kept what he described as a “drug box” inside her bedroom closet. According to Rohrs, he said the box contained marijuana and mushrooms. Rohrs wrote that the man’s account sounded believable.

Rohrs asked Rose for permission to search the closet, and Rose consented.

Inside the closet, Rohrs found a pink cosmetic case on a top shelf. He removed it and opened it, finding commercially packaged THC gummies and packaging. Rohrs wrote that he identified the contents as contraband and seized the entire case.

As Rohrs continued looking through the closet and approached a shelf containing numerous prescription medications, Rose revoked her consent and told him he did not need to search any further. Rohrs stopped searching.

Rose saw the cosmetics case in Rohrs’ hands and told deputies that the THC items had been given to her as a gift, that she did not use them and that they had been legally purchased in Illinois. She also told deputies the man had gone through the box because he wanted drugs.

When deputies later inventoried the contents of the seized case, they reported finding:

• 4.2 gross grams of an unknown dried mushroom substance, which Rohrs described as possibly “shrooms.”
• Five opened packages of commercially purchased THC gummies.
• One syringe containing an unknown brown liquid, found inside a THC-oil bag.
• One glass marijuana smoking pipe with residue.
• Three suspected THC vaporizers.
• One additional vaporizer with no liquid or cartridge.

Later Kenosha Joint Services evidence records separately categorized the property as mushrooms, THC gummies, THC vapes and drug paraphernalia and authorized those items for destruction after the case was closed.

Despite deputies physically seizing the suspected drugs and paraphernalia from Rose’s bedroom closet, the Sheriff’s records provided to KCE show no drug charge was filed against Rose arising from the discovery.

Surveillance Video Undermines Rose’s Account
Detective Justin McCoy later obtained surveillance footage from J&M’s Tavern.

The footage showed Rose and the man talking and laughing at the bar, showing one another things on their phones and kissing. At one point, Rose appeared to turn her head away from a kiss, but shortly afterward McCoy documented what appeared to be a mutually participated kiss.

The two then walked out together with their arms around one another and kissed again.

After they returned to the tavern, Rose remained sitting on her running motorcycle while the man dealt with his bill. McCoy wrote that he kissed Rose on the lips and smacked her buttocks, with Rose responding with a visible smile.

The man then told Rose he was going to follow her.

Rose replied, “Alright.”

She then left on her motorcycle with the man following behind in his semi.

The man maintained throughout the investigation that the sexual contact at Rose’s home was consensual.

After reviewing the tavern surveillance footage, body-camera recordings, Sheriff’s reports and witness statements, McCoy wrote that Rose’s statement was “so inconsistent with the available evidence” that there was no probable cause to believe a sexual assault occurred.

The investigation was cleared with no further action.

Months later, Wisconsin State Crime Lab findings were returned.

McCoy wrote that the laboratory findings did not alter the disposition and again concluded that Rose’s statement was so inconsistent with the available evidence that “there is no probable cause to believe a sexual assault was committed.”

Second Sexual-Assault Claim
Less than eight months later, on April 15, 2025, Rose contacted the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department concerning another man.

The dispatch narrative records an allegation that the man had also sexually assaulted Rose.

Deputy Jahneke and Field Training Deputy Korin Bourdo responded.

Jahneke wrote that Rose complained the man was repeatedly contacting her and threatening to come to her residence. After reviewing text messages between the two and discussing what he called an “ever changing time line,” Jahneke determined the matter appeared civil.

His summary stated:

“No crime had been committed.”
Rose told Jahneke she had informed the man three weeks earlier that she was no longer interested.

Jahneke wrote that after reviewing their text messages, he did not see a message from three weeks earlier saying Rose no longer wanted contact.

When Bourdo confronted Rose with the fact that the two continued having normal text conversations until about two days before she contacted police, Rose changed her explanation and said she had instead told him off approximately a week earlier during a phone conversation.

Rose also said she feared the man would come to her residence.

Jahneke wrote that when asked what she was specifically afraid of, Rose “could not articulate or explain any further.”

Deputies told Rose the situation was a civil matter, advised her to block the man’s number and explained how to obtain a restraining order.

Rose told deputies she already knew the process because she worked for the courthouse.

Jahneke closed the report by writing: “This is a civil issue, there was no crime committed.”

Former Judge’s Bailiff Now Felony Defendant
Rose later served as bailiff for Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Chad Kerkman.

She was charged in August 2025 with felony identity theft in an unrelated case after prosecutors accused her of using a former boyfriend’s business account without permission to make purchases.

That felony charge remains pending, and Rose is out on bail.

Neither sexual-assault allegation described in the Sheriff’s reports resulted in charges against either accused man.

The suspected drugs and paraphernalia seized from Rose’s closet also did not result in a drug charge against Rose.

What the Sheriff’s records do contain are unusually direct credibility findings: Rohrs wrote that he believed Rose was “lying to us about certain details,” later wrote that her own messages “prove that Rose was lying and that she never texted to call 911,” Jackson called her account “extremely fluid” with “many discrepancies,” Jahneke documented an “ever changing time line,” and McCoy twice concluded there was no probable cause to believe a sexual assault had occurred.