(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. —Over the past 14 years, dozens of courthouse employees have privately described the Kenosha County Clerk of Courts as “one of the most hated bosses in county government.”
Her name is Rebecca Matoska-Mentink. Inside the Clerk of Courts Office, however, employees say she has another name:
“The Warden.”
They say the nickname reflects more than personality. They say it reflects a workplace culture built on surveillance, selective enforcement, invasive documentation demands, and what they describe as retaliatory management inside a taxpayer-funded constitutional office.
When confronted directly about employee dissatisfaction during a recent exchange, Matoska-Mentink did not deny it.
“Your employees hate you,” she was told.
“Yes,” she responded.
When told employees talk daily about how she “suck[s]” at her job, she again responded:
“Yes.”
When accused of being vindictive, she replied:
“Yes.”
And when told “everybody hates you because you’re like this,” she answered:
“Yep. Thank you.”
Those answers are now part of the public record.
Allegations Regarding Medical Documentation Requirements
Several current and former employees told Kenosha County Eye that they were asked to provide medical verification beyond what they believed should be necessary for routine absences.
According to employees, in some instances women attending gynecological appointments were asked to submit documentation identifying the nature of the visit. Employees say the requests were not part of a written county-wide policy, but rather reflected decisions made within the Clerk’s Office.
In certain cases, employees said physician notes that were submitted included detailed information about procedures or follow-up care. Employees emphasized that those after-visit summaries were not necessarily explicitly requested, but were often provided because it was unclear what level of detail would satisfy the office’s expectations.
Kenosha County Eye reviewed at least one email in which a physician’s note contained specific medical details. The employee involved said the level of specificity felt unnecessary given the circumstances.
Employees also said documentation connected to therapy, psychiatric appointments, and other specialty care sometimes required more clarity than they expected. Several pointed out that many physicians practice in highly specialized fields — such as genecology, psychiatry, or other narrowly focused areas — making even a simple verification inherently revealing about the type of care being received.
One confidential source told Kenosha County Eye that many employees believe no medical verification should be required at all for certain types of time off and that the requests felt intrusive.
Employees interviewed for this article said the issue, in their view, was not simply documentation — but ambiguity over what was required and discomfort over providing sensitive information in a workplace setting.
Surveillance Allegations: Monitoring From a Laptop, Including From Home
Employees allege courthouse cameras are monitored beyond basic security purposes.
Multiple employees claim Matoska-Mentink monitors cameras from a laptop and has allegedly done so from home. Employees describe an incident in which two staff members were speaking briefly in a hallway when one was later approached and asked what the conversation was about.
The conversation, employees say, was personal in nature.
When the employee declined to provide a detailed explanation of a private exchange unrelated to job duties, employees allege scrutiny intensified and treatment shifted.
They describe increased documentation of minor issues and what they characterize as retaliation.
Employees say the incident reinforced their belief that cameras are used not only for security but for behavioral monitoring.
Selective Enforcement and Dress Code Disparities
Matoska-Mentink has issued written directives regarding workplace attire.
Employees say those standards are enforced strictly for some and loosely for others.
Kenosha County Eye has been provided with dozens of photographs taken inside the workplace that appear to show staff members dressed in ways that do not align with written dress standards. Employees allege those depicted are individuals favored by Matoska-Mentink, while others receive repeated corrective emails for lesser infractions.
Kenosha County Eye will not publish the photographs due to privacy concerns.
Employees say the issue is not strict standards — it is selective standards.
“Rule by Memo”: Coffee, Coats and Timekeeping
Employees describe a constant stream of emails from Matoska-Mentink and her administration.
They say a department-wide email instructed staff not to brew coffee after the start of the workday because it interfered with job duties.
They say staff were instructed not to put on coats before the end of the day.
They describe emails flagging minute time discrepancies, including clocking in a few minutes early.
Employees say the cumulative effect is anxiety.
Unequal Leave Practices
During the exchange captured in Recording 308, disparities in unpaid leave were raised:
“And you let some people have 15 unpaid days off and some people you kept them at 5.”
No denial followed.
Employees allege that unpaid leave allowances are applied inconsistently depending on the individual.
Escalation After 2022
Employees allege that her management style intensified after she lost the 2022 Kenosha County executive race.
They describe increased scrutiny, sharper tone and heightened enforcement following that election.
Employees say what once felt strict became punitive.
Troubled Leadership History at Gateway
Matoska-Mentink previously served as president of the Gateway Technical College Board during a period when faculty and staff morale was widely reported to be at an all-time low. Internal surveys reflected severe dissatisfaction with the college president and deep frustration among faculty and staff.
Critics say board leadership failed to meaningfully address those concerns. During that period, Matoska-Mentink did not provide substantive responses to media inquiries regarding the survey findings.
She was later not re-elected as president of the board.
Matoska-Mentink currently serves on multiple boards and committees, though critics point to few measurable institutional reforms or tangible accomplishments tied directly to her leadership roles.
Statutory Duties vs. Alleged Conduct
Wisconsin law is explicit about what a Clerk of Circuit Court is required to do. Under Wis. Stat. § 59.40, the clerk’s duties center on filing and preserving court papers, maintaining civil and criminal records, recording proceedings in open court, keeping judgment and lien dockets, indexing actions, collecting statutory fees, remitting funds to the state and county, and ensuring that court records accurately reflect the history of each case. Nowhere in § 59.40 does the Legislature authorize demanding detailed gynecological procedure descriptions, requiring therapy aftercare documentation, policing coffee timing, restricting when employees put on coats, or monitoring hallway conversations from a laptop. The Clerk of Courts is a constitutional officer funded by taxpayers for the purpose of maintaining court records and supporting judicial proceedings — not for supervising personal conversations or extracting intimate medical details from staff. Employees allege that substantial administrative energy has instead been directed toward micromanaging personal conduct and enforcing selective rules unrelated to the statutory mandate. The contrast raises a serious question for taxpayers: whether the focus of the Clerk’s Office aligns with the duties defined by law, or whether it has drifted into a culture of control that § 59.40 does not contemplate.
The Larger Question
Courts are institutions of constitutional importance.
Employees allege that under Matoska-Mentink, the Clerk’s Office operates with surveillance-heavy oversight, selective enforcement and intrusive documentation demands.
When confronted directly with claims that her employees dislike her, she responded:
“Yes.”
When confronted with accusations of vindictiveness:
“Yes.”
When told everybody hates her because of how she acts:
“Yep. Thank you.”
Her answers are now part of the public record.
Rebecca Matoska-Mentink is unlikely to provide further response. If she does, her full response will be published.
53 Responses
What a flipping nut case. Do your job you petty and vindictive Sgt Hard lover.
She’s also known to have things going on with others.
You know little things side
Yes, sometimes married things on the side.
I don’t know what any man would see in her
This woman had a booth at the Farmer’s Market selling flowers. My wife wanted some flowers that she didn’t have there at the time . So she gave my wife her address to go pick up the flowers at her home . My wife followed up on it and said her home was like a scene from Deliverance. It was a mess . Just like her . Do better Kenosha.
This sounds like she was being overly accommodating. Wow. Be kinder.
be smarter
Berg is always involved with the criminals
Old druggie that spent all his money on drugs and not child support?
She’s a miserable person and she knows it. What a sad life.. “Miserable” Will be her epithet.
Perhaps you mean epitaph? LOL
She does sell hardy mums in the fall out of her home, they have a grower that they buy them from.I paid in cash, wonder if she claims all that extra cash that she and her husband take in as income?
That would be a hard no.
If it concerns you so much, buy them elsewhere.
I’m sure quite a few will accept that offer now.
troll
quit stretching, we all make cash on the side, stick to her real issues turd burglar
Critics say…employees say…one confidential source said…You’d think these “sources” would want to come forward.
Yet you are anonymous…
So she can use it against them? Try thinking outside the box sometimes.
And lose a job? Are you that stupid?
It’s obvious you’ve never had a boss like this. They can’t speak up for fear of retaliation
Steinbrink was the same way. Retaliated against employees.
She is an elected official as clerk of circuit court so the remedy is at the ballot box.
I hope one of staff runs
Please don’t tell me that of all the employees in the clerks office that Not One doesn’t think they can do the Job ?!?
It’s a statutory job ! Period !
You follow rules. Follow procedures !
Do basic things as they are presented !
Answer questions and find things !
It’s not Rocket Science or Brain Surgery !
Someone please Run for Clerk !
While we’re here, can someone please consider running for county executive ?!?
It’s an elected position. One that has history of being re-elected until the office holder doesn’t want it anymore. Is it really a dead end boring job that no one wants to do it ?
Virtually any competent challenger would give Sam a run at the Ballot Box. Though if they are a current county employee they most certainly would see the wrath of the executive and clerk if they lost !
These elected government employees think they are God and have power that they truly don’t have. That is unless we don’t challenge them.
That’s when they win !!
If someone in the office were to run against her, and lose, the rest of your career with the county would be stained and you’d have a target on your back. She would make sure that you are never promoted, never allowed to make lateral changes, and even changing departments would be an obstacle course. I’ve seen it happen to people who have just spoken poorly of her publicly. She is quite possibly the worst tyrant I’ve ever worked for.
Yes ! That’s a very large hill to climb but someone needs to do it. And someone needs to financially support that effort.
If anything you say can be proven and documented, and I’m not saying I don’t believe you, it needs to see the light of a court room.
Now’s the time
She could be impeached
HA!!!!! …………….. you expect conservatives to get off the couch???
HAHA …………
She certainly doesn’t monitor her telephone. If you have ever tried to call her office it is impossible to get through.
The answering machine says something like ‘…only leave one message and all calls will be returned within 24 hours.’
Had to call her office multiple times last year over a period of a couple of months, and my calls were never answered or returned.
20 years in office is way too many. She needs to retire. Otherwise we need to find someone to run against her asap.
If the electorate as a whole is willing to keep electing you to a job you can do in your sleep then why would you not continue to apply/run for it ?
Older elected officials don’t retire just because. There is no reason. Just show up, go through the motions and cash those paychecks. And by the way, did anyone mention the pension waiting at the end. Gets larger every year !
Retire ? When I’m dead !
A little too much Ozempic for her. She has a strict dress code….. yet looks like she rolled out of bed. She share a hair brush with Kerkman and Mura?
Goofball
Looks like she combs her hair with a firecracker!
That’s fricking hilarious!
Am I the only one who sees so many physical similarities between her and Kerkman? They look so much alike it’s alarming.
This woman needs to go have her hair done professionally by a salon. She looks sloppy and unprofessional to represent the Kenosha County Clerk job.
Just ONE of these HIPAA violations would have been enough to get her fired where I work. These employees need to band together and hire a workplace attorney. Get her out and get her out now. She apparently has a ton of time on her hands if she has her staff under surveillance. So who is running against her next term????
She likely has accumulated a bunch of benefits along with a WRS pension that sets her up for retirement….If not a position will be found within some gov’t agency or non-profit where she can continue her bad habits and cover health and pension contributions.
These career bureaucrats all cover each others backs.
Sounds like a huge violation of privacy-she could be arrested for some of those offenses. But make no mistake, she is an evil, crazy and vindictive woman who has no place being in this position! She should be impeached and removed from her office.
Please, someone else, run for this position!
… against a elected county official there is a very easy way to remove them from their positions !
Run against them ! It’s SIMPLE !
Of all the citizens in the county and even ones that don’t live here but could move here, these positions are Ripe to be Challenged !!
Where are you Conservatives ?!?
Oh yeah! I know ! Can’t take the pay cut ! Don’t want the invasion of privacy as anyone who runs for office has their personal lives torn apart under scrutiny of anyone willing to google their name !
Don’t get me wrong. That’s not a dig on KCE or any other person willing to search a person’s background to find the skeletons in their closets.
But really, is running for public office really that bad of a job ? Something that virtually nobody wants to do ?
I think if you do your job, just like this clerk job by the book with a smile and demeanor that presents professionalism, why wouldn’t someone want to do this ?
And by the way. Reaching back into someone’s past just for fun isn’t what Kevin is all about. He has no interest in making life difficult for anyone that isn’t already making lives difficult for others !
This Clerk deserves to be exposed for who she is !
It’s our jobs now to take this information and do something about it !
My fellow Kenosha Nostra dames, I relocated to Iowa in 1993 and have concrete evidence that their RINO’s in office are criminals, unethical, unfit. Look, Chuck Grassley, Generally Regarded As Senior Senator Languishing Every Year in office since The Franklin Scandal. The STATE OF IOWA is Communist R3D. See my new book, DOMESTIC TERRORISM: USA vs Veterans and the First Amendment, Dr. KC Tennant, DC
No wonder when tyou go there everyone is miserable. Shame on you Kenosha for paying her the money she does not deserve over all these years. That is emotional abuse in the workplace. GET HER OUT OF THERE!
She also loves trying to boss the deputies around there… she may be in charge of the court house but she’s not the deputies boss. She’s a snake and runs to her friends and reports them being on a cell phone or talking or in a court room.. nosey ass bitch
She’s always been a nutjob.
Can’t think of a more fitting person to write an expose about. She is quite definitely the most ineffective boss I’ve ever had in my career.
You can thank Scott Walker and his Republican legislature for cutting the legs out from under public employment unions.
And were is HR in all this mess? Or Corporation Counsel? The county could be facing viable lawsuits based on this behavior.
You should see her office. Looks like the Tasmanian Devil was in there!!