A written ruling will be issued at some point in response to a petition seeking the removal from office of Shawano County Clerk of Courts Susan Krueger.
Judges James Habeck and William Kussel Jr. presided jointly Monday over a hearing in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court to take testimony in the matter, but gave no indication of how soon a decision might be made.
The court set a deadline of Friday afternoon to accept additional comments in writing from Krueger’s attorney and David and Karen Patza, of Bonduel, who brought the petition against Krueger.
The Patzas allege Krueger used her position in an attempt to influence the sentencing of a personal acquaintance in a Brown County felony case.
Krueger wrote a letter on Shawano County Clerk of Court letterhead in May to Brown County Circuit Court Judge Kendall Kelley on behalf of Eric Hodkiewicz, 35, of Shawano.
Hodkiewicz had been found guilty after a jury trial in March of substantial battery with intent to do bodily harm, strangulation and suffocation, stalking, burglary and several other charges. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and 13 years of extended supervision.
According to testimony at Monday’s hearing, Krueger was already facing the possibility of administrative discipline over her letter before the Patzas filed their complaint.
Susan Byrnes, district court administrator for the 9th Judicial District, which oversees 12 county courts, including Shawano-Menominee, testified that Chief Judge Neal Nielsen was planning to meet with Krueger and Shawano County’s judges to discuss the possible ramifications of her letter.
Byrnes said some of the possible outcomes included requiring Krueger to attend ethics education “with regard to displaying potential bias,” domestic violence education training and a letter of apology to Judge Kelley.
The Patzas complaint was filed the same day as that scheduled meeting, however, which shifted the matter into circuit court for a hearing on Krueger’s potential removal.
Habeck and Kussel also heard testimony Monday from a domestic violence awareness advocate who said Krueger’s letter to the Brown County Court could make victims of domestic violence less likely to come forward out of fear they would not be supported by the judicial system.
Krueger’s letter, written “on both a personal and professional level,” defended Hodkiewicz as someone incapable of “the alleged violence” against the victim in the case. She wrote that Hodkiewicz was a close friend of her son. She said she has known Hodkiewicz since he was in high school.
Krueger’s attorney, Colleen Nordin, pointed out that Krueger has worked with the Safe Haven domestic abuse shelter in Shawano and has assisted numerous victims of domestic violence in the course of her duties as clerk of court.
The court on Monday also heard additional statements from David and Karen Patza, mostly reiterating the allegations made in their complaint.
In addition to the letter to the Brown County court, the complaint alleges Krueger used her government email account in January 2012 and February 2013 to contact Department of Corrections employees in an attempt to influence Hodkiewicz’s probation agent and influence the DOC’s treatment of Hodkiewicz.
Krueger has denied the allegations.
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