June 4, 2026
By Tim Hundt
VIROQUA, Wis. – Vernon County’s ongoing struggle over how to handle its legal work returned to center stage Monday as the General Government Committee wrestled with the impending departure of longtime corporation counsel Nikki Swayne, questions about who decides when the county’s lawyer should be in the room, and a crowded docket of policy disputes and personnel gaps.
The June 3 meeting of the General Government Committee opened with new chair Dave Eggen started the meeting by addressing criticism over his decision last month not to have Swayne present in person. At the previous General Government meetings following the April election and committee reorganization, some supervisors spoke out about the decision to remove them from the committee and the decision to not have Swayne attend the meetings of her home committee that she reports to.
The fractured relationship between Vernon County leaders and their top legal advisor reached a breaking point when Corporation Counsel Nikki Swayne submitted her resignation. Swayne delivered her 90 day notice of termination on April 27 following months of intense debate over whether to transition her contracted firm into a permanent full time county department. Some county supervisors, including Eggen, had also expressed criticism over previous handling of some specific legal issues. The General Government Committee ultimately voted on May 6 to hold Swayne to the full 90 day separation window which will keep her on contract to handle the heavy county workload through late July. Swayne expressed gratitude for her nine years serving the county but noted the split was necessary.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” said Swayne. “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”.
Eggen tied the defense of his decisions to his long tenure in local government and to what he called the taxpayers at the kitchen table. He summarized his approach as an effort to avoid unnecessary attorney travel and to reserve appearances for when legal input is clearly needed.
“We are their voice, and they do not have one,” said Eggen, who noted this is his forty‑fifth year on elected boards. “Out of the thousands of decisions I have made in forty‑five years, I have made some that people questioned, but the point is I made a decision.”
Eggen was referring to his years of service in the town of Christiana, on the Westby School Board and on the Vernon County Board of Supervisors.
Eggen acknowledged that his call last month to keep corporate counsel away from the table had “created a lot of angst with a couple people” and said his goal was “efficient government” rather than sidelining legal advice. He said he had confirmed that the corporate counsel’s statutory duties are triggered “as need arises” and that the committee chair, not the attorney, sets the agenda, including whether legal counsel is asked to attend.
“I am mostly concerned with efficiency, efficient government, and asking an attorney to drive from La Crosse to Vernon County and back is not an efficient use of their time or our taxpayers’ time,” Eggen said. “But I did ask our administrative coordinator to have our legal counsel on virtual, and I think she is here.”
Corporate counsel explains role, cost and exit
Appearing by video, Swayne used her report to remind supervisors how she has structured the county’s legal work over the past nine years and to clarify what her departure on July 26 will and will not mean for ongoing cases.
She framed her office as a public‑service operation that has tried to keep rates low and avoid charging for travel or brief after‑hours contacts.
“I have always endeavored to provide services in the most economical and efficient fashion,” Swayne said. “That is why my rate is one hundred fifty dollars an hour, and when I have paralegals performing work, it is at eighty dollars an hour”.
She added that she has never billed the county for driving time when traveling for county business.
“When I am traveling in the county on behalf of the county, or getting from point A to point B for the county, that is not billed to the county,” Swayne said. “I see this as an important public service, and that is why those rates and practices are what they are”.
Swayne also disclosed that several department heads have been asking whether she could stay on in a limited way after July 26 to finish sensitive matters, including a high‑dollar treasurer’s case and specialized work for the register of deeds. She told the committee she is open to a narrowly drawn extension but said any such arrangement would require a new agreement and full County Board approval, not just a handshake with individual supervisors.
“One such department head did indicate that you, David, had consented to the use of my services after my term would otherwise expire,” Swayne said. “What I will say to that is it would take full board approval and some kind of new legal services agreement for me to do that.”
Swayne cautioned that because any new rate or scope would involve bargaining, those talks would have to be noticed properly and likely held in closed session. Eggen directed staff to place the question on a future agenda so the board can decide whether to ask her to stay on to close out specific matters.
Later in the meeting, Swayne reminded supervisors that the past cost figures they see from her office likely understate the true value of the work, because she routinely chose not to bill for short consultations with board members and late‑night calls on emergencies.
“I under‑bill a lot of my point‑one kind of time that just goes to my public service, and I probably should not have,” Swayne said. “I have taken calls from supervisors at night that I have not billed for, so take that into consideration when you look at the past years and what was billed”.
Pressed later about the after‑hours load, Swayne estimated that genuine emergency work such as crisis mental health or child placement calls runs perhaps a half hour a week on average, with a true late‑night emergency arriving “maybe once a month”.
Agenda wording raises questions on transmission line case
Swayne’s legal report also highlighted a smaller but telling detail about how county legal issues reach the public agenda.
One item on the printed agenda referenced a “transition line” update, even though officials and advocates have been watching a potential transmission line fight tied to Maribel and Public Service Commission proceedings.
Swayne told the committee she believed the intent of the agenda item was clear from public discussion and prior meetings, but she acknowledged the typo and addressed the substance anyway. She said Vernon County had already indicated interest in aligning with Crawford County to hire outside expertise on PSC cases, specifically to explore the role of an intervener and what the cost‑benefit picture might be for both counties.
She said she has been vetting possible attorneys, including some names she considers “well suited” and others she believes the county should avoid, while also working another angle through the Wisconsin Counties Association and its law firm partner Attolles Law.
After meeting with an Attolles attorney who focuses on PSC matters, mostly in solar cases, Swayne said there is “a very good chance” WCA would treat the line issue as one of statewide concern and pick up the cost of an initial consultation.
“What that would look like is an attorney or two from Attolles coming at no cost to our county to the next board meeting,” Swayne said. “They would be able to inform both counties what the cost‑benefit analysis looks like, what the odds of success as related to the goals look like, and go from there”.
She said she hopes to confirm the WCA decision and the attorneys’ availability in time to place the briefing on the June County Board agenda, with Crawford County invited to participate by Zoom.
Search for new legal representation
Human Resources Director and Interim Administrative Coordinator Trisha Lepke reported that the county received four formal proposals for ongoing corporation counsel or legal services, plus a fifth firm offering only ad hoc work rather than full corporate counsel duties.
Lepke told the committee she had intended to mirror the interview process used the last time the county filled the role, giving supervisors a chance to meet candidates and ask detailed questions. Corporation counsel cautioned that discussing the relative strengths, weaknesses or reputations of individual applicants in open session could expose the county to legal risk and violate bargaining rules.
Swayne advised that specific evaluations of applicants should be conducted in closed session under state law provisions related to negotiations and reputational concerns. Committee members agreed, and Eggen directed staff to post a special General Government Committee meeting for Friday morning, June 7, dedicated largely to closed session review of the proposals.
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