Caffeinated Politics

It would be difficult not to consider the actions and behavior of the Waushara County Sheriff Department the beginning chapter of a novel about a rural county and the colorful people who call it home. Add in some overweight officers and redneck lingo and the second chapter is begging to continue telling the tale.

I should mention at the outset, I grew up in Waushara County. The small rural community of Hancock (County Tk KK) is where I called home, and it was from Tri-County Schools I graduated in 1980. My only interaction with the sheriff’s department was being pulled over on a local road heading to Wautoma to pick up my boyfriend. Yes I was speeding. My Dodge Duster was not meant to creep along and that seemed to run counter for a determined deputy from the Do-Right crowd.

Given the rumors that have been rumbling for months, and then reading the recent articles in The Badger Project, does cause Waushara County residents to question what type of people get to wear a sheriff’s department uniform. I was not shocked to learn of these stories, but found it shameful that the department has such characters. And who knows how many others are left to be reported on?

The Badger Project is a news operation staffed with ace reporters who marshal their investigative skills. They have proved themselves over the years and are a part of my in-box for information. Thanks to pitch-perfect reporting from intrepid reporters.

Waushara County Sheriff Walter Zuehlke collected thousands of dollars in county payments for his German Shepherd police dog Argo for years without continuing instruction for the dog in his care, according to an investigation by The Badger Project.

Zuehlke, a K9 officer before he ran for office, was first elected sheriff in 2018. After becoming the county’s top cop in January 2019, he quit the law enforcement K9 training while continuing to receive more than $20,000 in K9 payments from the county, The Badger Project estimates, based on county records and sources.

Zuehlke claimed he brought the dog to work with him “every day until he (Argo) retired,” but two former sheriff’s office employees disputed that recollection. The employees asked to remain unidentified because they said they fear retaliation from the most powerful law enforcement officer in the county.

The sheriff collected $4,860 in 2022 and $4,980 in 2023, according to county records obtained by The Badger Project. After Argo died in August 2024, Zuehlke continued receiving a $415 monthly subsidy through November of that year, taking a total of about $4,570 in 2024, county payroll records indicate.

The sheriff earned a salary of $99,066 in 2023, and receives about a 3 percent raise every year, set by the county board, Waushara County Administrator Megan Kapp said. He is making a salary of $105,099 in 2025.

He also collected the K9 payments from 2019 through 2021, sources told The Badger Project. But the county switched to a new accounting system in 2022, and no longer has records of those payments, Kapp said.

This past week the county board acted.

Drawing cheers from the audience, the Waushara County Board voted Tuesday night that Sheriff Walter Zuehlke must reimburse more than $22,000 plus interest in K9 stipends he took after quitting the trainings of his law enforcement dog. The vote was nearly unanimous at 9-1.

I think this type of behavior with sticky fingers is taught to be wrong in Cub Scouts. For most people that lesson sticks.

But when it comes to taking a picture of your penis and sending it around to work colleagues asking for a pic of their penis in return, well, that surely takes the better part of a bottle of moonshine to become so down-right brilliant.

The Waushara County Sheriff’s Office promoted a deputy to K9 officer after he had been reprimanded for bad behavior, including sending and requesting lewd photos to and from colleagues and propositioning female deputies.

Matthew Elliott submitted his resignation on Sept. 16, days after The Badger Project made a formal request on Sept. 10 for records from the internal investigation into his behavior.

The records state that while on duty in 2022, Elliott used a cell phone to send photos of his genitalia to fellow deputies. Two male deputies said he also asked them each at least 10 times for genitalia photos. (Is there a county sheriffs’ commendation for sticktoitiveness?)

In addition, investigative records state that Elliott asked another deputy for a photo that a juvenile had sent of his genitalia to another juvenile. That image was part of a criminal investigation.

And Elliott propositioned at least two female deputies, in person or via text messaging, according to the investigation.

In his resignation letter, Elliot stated “At this point in my life, I feel it is time to step back and reevaluate my career path and future goals. “

But just to show that even stories like this can become even more absurd, I offer as evidence the way the Waushara Argus placed this story in the October 16th edition. Which prompted a quick note from my desk to the paper’s editor.

I wrote the following.

The Waushara Argus needs an editor with their eyes open. The news story about lewd photos from a Waushara County sheriff deputy and the Waushara County photography club winner story on top of each other was unprofessional in every sense of the word. Is this really all we can expect from the staff of the Argus? Or was this a sophomoric joke?  As a long-time subscriber, I am truly perplexed about who is hired to work at the newspaper.

As a former radio news reporter, I understand there are time pressures and deadlines to meet.  But as I try to place myself in your position, I cannot fathom how a review of the page layout with these two stories did not strike you as simply a nonstarter. 

Sincerely,

Now, the moral of this column on Caffeinated Politics is never race on county roads, acting like “this is Indianapolis ” which was what the sheriff deputy said to me. Oh, Gomer, where did you learn that line?