Citizens speak out about planned constitutional sheriff’s event at county meeting, Sheriff Torgerson responds

Feb. 6, 2025

VIROQUA, Wis. – About 35 members of the general public showed up online, and in person at the monthly Vernon County Public Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Public Safety Committee oversees the County Sheriff’s Office and the Emergency Management Department. The larger than usual turnout was spurred by a proposed event that would have featured speakers from the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association that had been planned for Feb. 7 at two venues in Viroqua.

One of the presentations was planned for the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office during the day that was billed as “government only”, and another presentation at The Commons on Jefferson Street in Viroqua for the general public. The events were listed on the website of a local activist Max Kane and would have featured former Sheriff Richard Mack and former Sheriff Brad Rogers. Both events were subsequently cancelled by both venues.

The Constitutional Sheriff’s and Peace Officer Association (CSPOA) argues that local sheriffs are the chief interpreters of the Constitution. They believe the discretion they are allowed to decide what laws are enforced and how they are enforced means it is the local sheriff in their county who decides how the U.S. Constitution is enforced. Critics say that philosophy taken to an extreme means that there is no one who can tell a constitutional sheriff what to do, or hold them accountable. Not the president, not the Supreme Court, not the governor, not the legislature.

The planned presentations along with recent presidential executive orders allowing federal officials to enter schools and places of worship if they are conducting immigration sweeps have caused a lot of fear locally, and likely spurred the backlash that caused the events to be cancelled.

The planned event for the Sheriff’s Office was determined to be a “political” event that violated county policy regarding holding events that are political in nature on county property. Vernon County Administrative Coordinator Cassie Hanan said she was notified by a county board member of the planned event at the sheriff’s office, and after reading the county policy, researching the presenters, and consulting with county Corporation Counsel Nikki Swayne, she determined the event was political and asked that the event to be canceled.

We did clarify with Sheriff Torgerson that the event planned at the sheriff’s office would have been for sheriff’s only, and any deputy attending would have been attending on their own time, and not paid for their time to attend.

The other event scheduled for The Commons in Viroqua on Feb. 7 was open to the general public, but was also cancelled due to public backlash. One email from the organization about the cancellation circulated online stated:

“When this event was initially proposed to The Commons, we were not provided with any names of the presenters, the pitch was simply that it would be an educational forum for the public to ask questions of and learn about the rights and responsibilities of Sheriffs.  As soon as we learned the names of the presenters, we looked them up and were quite upset at what we learned. Last week, The Commons gave Max Kane notice that we are canceling the event.”

The statement went on to say “The Commons will be having nothing to do with this event and we hope that Max Kane and his associates will decide to do likewise. It was a very easy decision for us to make, because the true nature of this event clearly goes against our values and our mission statement. We are here to support the community through arts, wellness, education and rehabilitating a beautiful historic building. We have zero interest in supporting divisive and antagonist political movements like the CSO.”

We have reached out Max Kane via email to get comments on the planned events and their cancellation, but we have not received a response.

At the Vernon County Public Safety Committee meeting on Feb. 4 the citizens who spoke expressed similar concerns about the events, and asked Sheriff Torgerson to commit to not hosting the organization in the future. Some who spoke asked him to reject the CSPOA philosophy altogether. Of the nine people who spoke or expressed their opinion, eight were opposed to the CSPOA event and one was in favor.

County Board Supervisor Bruce Kilmer read a letter on behalf of Vernon County resident Don Foy.

“Sheriff’s deputies and police officers have a very difficult job,” said Foy. “Often under very difficult circumstances, sometimes they risk their lives to protect us. So they deserve our esteem and should probably should be paid more. But the notion of a constitutional sheriff as promoted by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, CSPOA, is unconstitutional. Sheriffs are nowhere mentioned in the US Constitution, and with a fanciful reading of the 10th Amendment in English history, the CSPOA claims that sheriffs are the final authority in their counties and can judge which laws are constitutional or not. Ironically, on the CSPOA website, there is a quote by James Madison, which essentially says, none of the branches of government should transcend your legal limits, but should be restrained by other branches. Encouraging sheriffs to play the role of Supreme Court judges is clearly transcending legal limits. The promise of sovereign power may be attractive, but it’s like the story of Genesis, where the serpent says, just eat the apple and you will be like God. We know how that one went. Respectfully tell your local sheriff’s department, and local and national representatives not to support their goal.”

Barbara Richards expressed her respect and support for law enforcement but asked the sheriff to not support the ideology of the CSPOA.

“I am grateful for all those in our community who have stepped forward to serve as public safety professionals to protect each and every member of our community,” said Richards. “Looking to both enforce and follow the laws of our community is a challenging and often dangerous task. But I’m concerned that a group that holds themselves above the law sought to bring their ideas about their being a category of law enforcement, named constitutional sheriff, to our county. I would ask you, as leaders of our public safety committee, to disavow and monitor the activity of this group. I ask you to ensure that none of our public safety professionals embrace this ideology.”

James Yohn also expressed his appreciation and respect for the sheriffs department and their work but called the CSOPA and their philosophy “dangerous ideas” and asked the sheriff to reject their approach to policing.

“I respect Sheriff Torgerson and the work his team does, but I believe his job is to uphold the law, not interpret the law,” said Yohn. “If a law is unjust, then we should follow the judicial and legislative processes to have that law changed. With their ties to anti-government militias, I would like to request that the committee reflect on the opinions of this group and bring it to discussion at the next meeting.”

Jillian Ritchie said what she likes the most about living in the area is the wide range of people and beliefs, and the title of constitutional sheriff is unnecessary.

“I speak first and foremost, with the utmost respect for all of our law enforcement here in this area,” said Ritchie. “I support our local law enforcement, and I have nothing but respect for the what you do. So it is with deep respect for what you do that I speak. I do not believe you need the title of constitutional sheriff. You are our sheriff. You are pledging your oath to the Constitution. To attach this performative constitutional sheriff title to what to do, is not only unnecessary, it is totally counterproductive. You all know, in Vernon County, we have a wide range of different kinds of people who live here. And I love that. I love that I live in a place that where my community went for Bernie Sanders. I love that I go to a church where people voted for President Trump and voted for Vice-President Kamala Harris, and none of us has any idea who did either one, because we’re not performatively sitting there looking at each other with labels. The second that Vernon County decides to attach itself to outside groups, right wing performative statements, we are no longer our wonderful Vernon County finding a way to live in harmony with everybody who’s here. This reminds me of a couple of years ago when they wanted our county to declare itself a Second Amendment County. And I thought, well, how silly is that? We are a First Amendment County, a Second Amendment a third, a fourth, a fifth, 10th, 25th, of course. You are responsive to all of the amendments to the Constitution and to the Constitution itself, as you are responsive to the federal laws, to the states, local ordinances. These are the things that make a democracy work. These are the things that make citizens know that when we go to the polls and we vote for Sheriff Torgerson, we know that he is in that framework and not operating from some right wing outside extra constitutional framework, that has nothing to do with Vernon County, and we have no need for such division in our county. It is going to be hard enough for us all to hold ourselves together in these times, this is the wrong headed kind of thing to do. This sends the wrong signal that our county somehow needs to ally itself with outside, divisive organizations that do not know Vernon County. So I encourage you Sheriff Torgerson, be Sheriff. Just be Sheriff Torgerson.”

Daniel Arnold said he supports the sheriff’s department but pointed to an online document being circulated by people who say they are associated with the CSPOA that seems to be advocating for the replacement of our existing Constitution with a new one.

“I do not believe that we need to redefine the Constitution on our own,” said Arnold. “I think we have a constitution that works pretty well for us at the moment. We need to uphold that, and that’s why we elected our sheriff to do that. But I bring, in addition to all these comments, another document that’s been circulated on social media and widely in the community in recent days. It’s called an Affirmation and First Notice of Existence of a Bilateral Social Compact Agreement. It’s a new Constitution, and it’s signed by local people with their blood signatures on the back page. It’s an 18 page document. I’d like to enter that into the record of the county so it’s available if people would like you to inspect that. I think it’s an insult to the community to think that we’re not capable of governing ourselves in a civil and legal manner, and we do not need a Christo-Fascist government to replace the one that we’ve got, which is exactly what this document pretends to do. So with that, I support the current sheriff’s department and
do not support the movement toward a constitutional sheriff in this county.”

Ron McGuire asked the sheriff specifically to commit to not hosting the group, or any other political group.

“I would like to have an assurance that the sheriff’s office is not going to be the place where a partisan political group, be it constitutional sheriffs or the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, holds its meetings,” said McGuire.

McGuire said he agrees with some of the arguments made by the CSPOA about law enforcement discretion, but said the decision making power about constitutionality lies with the courts, not individual sheriffs.

“We have sheriffs that do have an important role to decide when and how to enforce the law,” said McGuire. “But ultimately, once an arrest is made, it’s up to the courts to decide. And I want to ask Sheriff Torgerson, do you agree that the sheriff is under the authority of the courts and the county supervisors and all the other people who we elect, to administer the law?”

McGuire pressed Torgerson on how he views executive orders from the president that seem to be in conflict with parts of the Constitution.

“There are certain rights only citizens have, like the right to vote, like the right to run for office,” said McGuire. “But when we look at something like the 14th Amendment, or the 15th Amendment doesn’t talk about citizens. It talks about persons. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Now we have an executive order from the person who’s the president the United States saying that what has been the law of the land up until now, that people born here are citizens, will no longer be true. And I want to ask Sheriff Torgerson, do you consider that to be a lawful order?”

McGuire then asked Torgerson specifically how he will handle federal authorities if they attempt to enter the local schools or places of worship.

“There is a Supreme Court case that says that children who are born to illegal immigrants have a right to go to our schools,” said McGuire. “They have a right to be there. Our laws say they have to get educated. And I want to know if the sheriff’s office, are our children, or other children in this community going to be safe from ICE agents in our schools? Will the sheriff cooperate with ICE when they come to the schools to look to see if there are any illegal immigrants, undocumented students here? Will the sheriff be doing what sheriffs have done in some places, sometimes in our country, which is to stand in a schoolhouse door and say, no, you may not, the federal agents may not come in? You have to go to court get an order.”

Debbie Dudek said she is concerned that the adoption of the CSOPA philosophy will lead to a dampening of free speech.

“I do not agree with this movement, the constitutional sheriff’s movement, who thinks that they can take the law into their own hands and decide what is the law,” said Dudek. “I agree, there are some laws that I don’t agree with, but we have a process. We live in the United States. We can’t, not just decide what we can’t …this is a very dangerous situation. And I would just say briefly that I am an example of, I am on the corner every Saturday with the Driftless Palestinian Solidarity Movement. We’ve been there for 15 months, for an hour, and the the Viroqua Police Department has been very respectful. We get the right to assemble, and we have the right of free speech. This new group could come in, arrest us and take us to jail or do whatever. So we want to feel safe, and I don’t think I feel safe with this kind of movement coming into our town. I know that the sheriff’s department didn’t sponsor it, but we all would like to know what their agenda is. Or what their intent is, and I’m sure there’s other towns going through the same thing.”

Monica Matos spoke in favor of the CSOPA and said the overriding principle that should guide law enforcement is the same as medical professionals which is “do no harm”, and the CSOPA is misrepresented in the media.

“I moved to Viroqua about a year ago from Minneapolis when COVID 19 and George Floyd riots fundamentally changed the city,” said Matos. “What I’d like to address today is first, do no harm. That phrase is best known from the Hippocratic Oath. Shouldn’t this principle lie at the foundation of every moral and ethical practice? Corporate, technological and environmental policies? Education? Governance? Law enforcement? Journalism? When I was studying journalism in college I distinctly remember seeing a detailed analysis of the Zapruder film, the infamous home movie that captured the moment of JFK assassination. It proved beyond doubt that the Warren Commission’s official narrative of a lone gunman was patently false. And the CIA then coined the term conspiracy theorist to discredit anyone who recognized the gas lighting. So I was about 19 when I first realized that the government is not the pillar of moral integrity. I later became a child birth educator when I discovered that the many medical interventions of modern obstetrics are not evidence based practices and do indeed cause harm. I came to know many people who were either directly harmed by vaccinations or parents who researched the topic intensively because their children were irreparably harmed. When COVID swept the world, I, like everyone else, was terrified at first, however, because I developed an astutely critical lens through which I view medical and political practices, things quickly didn’t add up for me. I began questioning the official narrative and faced intense backlash as a result. That was when I discovered that independent journalism is by and large dead, overtaken by complex algorithms that carefully curate content that will hook us. In moving to the center, I listened to both the liberal and conservative media use neuro-linguistic programming to create highly charged buzz words like far right extremists and commie libtards to generate fear and anger. I saw the official narrative about the George Floyd events as a gross distortion of what I witnessed firsthand. The January 6 portrayal was not at all what a relative of mine captured in video footage that he sent me from that day. Following suit, the portrayal of the Constitutional Sheriff movement as dangerous is also grossly misrepresenting facts. When the media is turning words like Constitutional 10th Amendment and freedom into fear inducing buzz words, should that not activate some major red flags. I saw Richard Mack’s presentation in Minnesota, and it was not at all a meeting of far right extremists. The room was filled with people just like you. While maligning this as anti-government activity, the fact based term would be anti government overreach or anti-government abuse of power. One of the main points in the Vernon Dems (Vernon County Democratic Party) email that was sent out on this topic states, the idea of a constitutional sheriff is dangerous and not based in reality. Does that come across as objective fact that lets you make up your mind? Sheriff Mack was a key figure in the 1997 case Printz vs United States, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot force state officials to carry out federal mandates. So, it is very much based in reality. And because the government is not a pillar of moral integrity, that’s precisely the reason why we need sheriffs who have a deep understanding of the 10th Amendment, and a deep commitment to defending our constitutional liberties. First, do no harm. How can we enact that principle in our communications, decisions, and behaviors with each other, so that the social fabric that has been so harshly torn apart can be mended once again?

Since Sheriff Torgerson could not directly respond to public comments at the meeting due to the rules regarding open meetings, we reached to him with some of the specific questions raised at the meeting and directed to him, to allow him the chance to respond. We included the questions regarding a endorsing or attending meetings held by the CSPOA, and how he will handle future interactions with federal authorities if they attempt to enter local schools or places of worship. Sheriff Torgerson did send us a written response to those questions.