Vernon County Corporation Counsel Nikki Sawyne steps down as county attorney

May 2, 2026

By Tim Hundt

VIROQUA Wis. – Vernon County Corporation Counsel Nikki Swayne has submitted her resignation to terminate her legal services agreement with the county. Swayne provided her notice to the county on April 27. She offered the standard 90 days of notice required by her contract but county officials have the option to shorten her departure window to 60 days. Swayne has served as the primary legal advisor for Vernon County for nine years.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” said Swayne. “Corporation counsel work is where my heart is and my commitment to Vernon County and its people has been genuine throughout my nine years in this role.”

Swayne explained that she felt it was time to move on to other opportunities but did not specify what those opportunities were.

“But after careful reflection I believe this transition is in the best interest of both the County and myself as I move forward to other endeavors,” said Swayne. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served and I will continue giving everything I have through the end of my tenure.”

Her resignation comes on the heels of a failed push to make her position a full-time county job with benefits. During an April 1 General Government Committee meeting outgoing Administrative Coordinator Cassandra Hanan proposed transitioning the contracted role into a permanent staff position. Hanan argued the move would save the county money in the long run as hourly legal fees from outside firms continue to rise.

County Board Chair Lorn Goede said he firmly opposed adding another highly paid executive to the county payroll. Goede pointed to the tight county budget and recent cuts to local organizations.

“I do not see how we can increase our budgets for this when we are cutting the Historical Society we are cutting everything,” said Goede. “I do not believe that we have to have a Corporate Counsel sitting at every board meeting.”

Supervisor Dave Eggen agreed with Goede and argued that keeping the position as a contracted service gives the county flexibility.

“I am against the in house full-time legal counsel because we lose flexibility,” said Eggen. “Like this contract every three years. If we are unhappy with our legal counsel we bid.”

Supervisor Wayde Lawler defended creating the permanent position to retain Swayne and her institutional knowledge. Lawler warned the committee that the county has faced expensive legal mistakes in the past when it lacked dedicated internal guidance.

“Of all the things we should skimp on to save money I do not think it should be legal counsel,” said Lawler. “We have gotten ourselves into some sticky situations in a not too distant past that have ended up costing us a lot of time and a lot of money and a lot of credibility.”

The proposal ultimately failed in committee but the debate mirrored a similar contract dispute from late 2023. Last December the full county board voted 14 to 5 to postpone extending the legal services agreement with Swayne and her firm Abt Swayne. During that process the General Government Committee solicited outside bids and reviewed a competing proposal from the La Crosse law firm Johns Flaherty and Collins.

The La Crosse firm offered to handle county business at a rate of $170 dollars per hour compared to the $150 dollar rate charged by Abt Swayne. Some supervisors suggested splitting the county legal work between the two firms. Supervisor Mary Henry proposed that Swayne continue to handle cases for the Human Services Department where she had shown marked improvement but wanted the La Crosse firm to handle general county board issues.

“I have recommended at that meeting and I have been vocal about it because law is very complicated and just about everybody anymore is very specialized in some of the issues that we have had,” said Henry. “I am suggesting that we use Johns and Flaherty as our Corp Counsel and Nikki is human services.”

General Government Committee Chair Alycann Taylor defended keeping Swayne as the sole counsel due to her deep understanding of county operations.

“For me institutional memory is huge,” said Taylor.

The county ultimately maintained its relationship with Abt Swayne but the debates highlighted deep divisions among county leadership. Those divisions were prominently displayed again during the April 21 organizational meeting when the board held elections for its chair position.

Supervisor Nathaniel Slack nominated Supervisor Charlie Jacobson to challenge Goede for the leadership role. Slack praised Jacobson for his dedication and his 30 years of experience as a county employee.

“Charlie attends every committee,” said Slack. “He represents us on the Wisconsin Counties Association Board the Mississippi Valley Planning Commission as he said 30 year employee of the county bringing a really unique perspective to that position.”

Goede defended his own record and his commitment to transparency and fiscal responsibility.

“I believe an open and transparent government no secret meetings,” said Goede. “We are looking at some really tough choices at the county level our budgets are getting tighter every year and we have got two choices.”

Goede narrowly survived the challenge and won reelection as board chair on a 10 to 9 paper ballot vote.

Despite the recent political friction and his opposition to making the attorney position a full-time county job, Goede expressed gratitude for the work Swayne has done during her tenure.

“I appreciate her years of service and wish her well,” said Goede.

Goede specifically highlighted her valuable contributions to the most sensitive legal areas of county government.

“She has been really good with Human Services,” said Goede. “I know Jill (Human Services Director Jill Bender) has been really satisfied with her work.”

The county will now begin the search for new legal representation to take over before Swayne departs later this summer.

The political friction over Swayne’s departure and the recent administrative hiring may have impacted the new county committee assignments which Goede recently finalized. As board chair Goede holds the statutory power to appoint supervisors to the non-elected standing committees including General Government and Finance.

Following the contentious April meetings Goede completely overhauled the makeup of the General Government Committee. Supervisor Alycann Taylor who previously chaired the committee and Supervisor Wayde Lawler who defended creating the permanent attorney position and voted for hiring Torres were both removed from General Government and placed on the Economic Development Committee. Goede instead appointed Supervisor Dave Eggen to take over as the new chair of the General Government Committee. Eggen will be joined by Goede and newly appointed committee members Paul Wilson, Sandy Schweiger, and Bruce Kilmer.

After every spring election the board goes through an organizational process to determine who sits on which committee. The way our county government is structured requires the full board of supervisors to elect the members of four specific committees while the remaining committees are appointed by the county board chair.

The four standing committees where members are elected by the full county board include the Conservation and Education Committee the Infrastructure Committee the Human Service and Veterans Service Committee and the Vernon Manor Board of Trustees

Once those seats are filled through the voting process the power shifts to the county board chair to appoint supervisors to all the remaining standing and advisory committees.

The standing committees appointed by the chair include the Finance Committee the General Government Committee the Board of Health the Public Safety Committee the Economic Development Committee the Opioid Prevention and Abatement Steering Committee and the Planning Commission.

The chair also appoints members to a wide variety of advisory committees that help guide specific local issues. Those advisory groups include the ADRC Advisory Committee the Viroqua Westby Trail Committee Comprehensive Community Services the Highway Safety Committee the Nutrition Advisory Committee the Land Information Council the Local Emergency Planning Committee the Transportation Coordinating Committee and the Viroqua Business Park Commission.

These newly aligned committees will now be tasked with finding new legal representation for the county and onboarding the new administrative coordinator.