Amy Hasenberg for the office of Gov. Scott Walker stated to DrydenWire on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, that three attorneys — Aaron Marcoux, Brian Wright, and Joseph Schieffer — applied for the Barron County District Attorney position before the February 12th deadline.
Hasenberg went on to say that the application process typically takes 8-10 weeks from the date that the Governor’s office receives the resignation letter. A resignation letter was received from current Barron County District Attorney Angela Beranek on January 19, 2018.
Beranek announced in mid-January she is stepping down from her position as Barron County District Attorney on March 2nd to join the Eau Claire County District Attorney’s office as an Assistant DA.
Beranek is out of the Barron County office on vacation this week and was unavailable for comment.
The appointment of a District Attorney is a decision made by the Governor, and so the process moves as quickly or as slowly as the Governor deems necessary.
When there are no more than three DA candidates, as in Barron County, the governor may choose to interview all three. Otherwise, a committee is appointed to review the candidates and recommend the top choices to the governor.
The two Barron County Assistant DAs will handle the prosecutorial duties of the office after District Attorney Beranek steps down and until the new District Attorney takes office, but if the caseload is too large, the governor has the option to appoint a Special Prosecutor to act as temporary DA.
The caseload in the Barron County DA’s Office is large enough that Barron County could utilize as many as five Assistant DAs, but Beranek’s recent request to add one assistant DA to bring the total up to three was rejected by the Governor.
Last Update: Feb 15, 2018 9:40 am CST
