Wisconsin Legislature: oag2-09

QUESTION PRESENTED AND BRIEF ANSWER

¶ 2. You ask whether the county board in a county with a county executive possesses the power to appoint the county representative to a public inland lake and rehabilitation district protection board under Wis. Stat. § 33.28(2)(a).

¶ 3. In my opinion, in a county with a county executive the county executive possesses the power of appointment, which is subject to confirmation by the county board.

ANALYSIS

¶ 4. County appointments to public inland lake and rehabilitation district boards are made pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 33.28(2), which provides in part that the “board of commissioners” is to include “(a) One person appointed by the county board who is a member of the county land conservation committee or is nominated by the county land conservation committee and appointed by the county board[.]” Wisconsin Stat. § 59.17(2)(c) provides that the county executive “[a]ppoint[s] the members of all boards and commissions . . . where the statutes provide that the appointments are made by the county board . . . .”

¶ 5. The phrase “boards and commissions” in Wis. Stat. § 59.17(2)(c) is not limited to boards and commissions that are internal to the county. “[A]ppointments to a regional plan commission on behalf of a county . . . must be made by the county board, unless the county has a county executive or a county administrator” in which case “such appointments are made by that county officer[.]” See 62 Op. Att’y Gen. 197, 200 (1973). The management of a public inland lake and rehabilitation district is vested in a “board of commissioners.” Wis. Stat. § 33.28(1). The board of commissioners is a board or a commission in contradistinction to a committee. See 76 Op. Att’y Gen. 173, 175 (1987) (citing 61 Op. Att’y Gen. 116, 119-20 (1972), for the proposition “that the Legislature used the words ‘boards and commissions’ [in what is now Wis. Stat. § 59.17(2)(c)] advisedly to the exclusion of ‘committees,’ whether such ‘committees’ were created under section 59.06 or some other statutory authority”).

¶ 6. Wisconsin Stat. § 33.28(2)(a) provides that the county representative upon a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation board is to be a “person appointed by the county board[.]” By operation of Wis. Stat. § 59.17(2)(c), the power of appointing the county representative to a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district is therefore transferred from the county board to the county executive once the office of county executive is created.

¶ 7. The county executive’s appointee must be a person “who is a member of the county land conservation committee or is nominated by the county land conservation committee[.]” Wis. Stat. § 33.28(2)(a). Consequently, if the land conservation committee does not nominate anyone outside the committee, the county executive’s appointee must be a member of the committee.

¶ 8. Wisconsin Stat. § 59.17(2)(c) provides that “[a]ll appointments to boards and commissions by the county executive are subject to confirmation by the county board.” While the power of appointing the county representative to a public inland lake rehabilitation and protection board is vested in the county executive by operation of Wis. Stat. § 59.17(2)(c), the county board possesses the power to confirm the county executive’s appointment.

CONCLUSION

¶ 9. I therefore conclude that in a county with a county executive, the county executive possesses the power to appoint the county representative to a public inland lake and rehabilitation district protection board under Wis. Stat. § 33.28(2)(a) and that the county executive’s appointment is subject to confirmation by the county board.

Sincerely,

J.B. Van Hollen

Attorney General

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