A county has statutory authority to enter into a joint law enforcement agreement with an Indian tribe which locates a joint telecommunications terminal in a tribal building, so long as the terminal is properly secured, supervised and under the control of a county law enforcement agency. 80-91
Property held in trust by the federal government for the Menominee Tribe and tribal members pursuant to the Menominee Restoration Act (25 U.S.C. sec. 903, et seq.) is not subject to state taxation. Tribal members residing and working in Menominee County and the Menominee Tribe are not subject to state income tax. Government services to be provided by Menominee County and the Town of Menominee discussed. 66-290
Public Law 280 (67 Stat. 588, 28 U.S.C. sec. 1360 and 18 U.S.C. sec. 1162) is not applicable to the Menominee Tribe but state general jurisdiction will continue until the federal and tribal governments assume jurisdiction pursuant to the Menominee Restoration Act. Menominee County, or portions thereof, could be merged with an adjoining county or counties by procedures set forth in sec. 59.997, Wis. Stats., but any division of the county could require prior majority vote of the county's legal voters. 64-184
Mineral rights
Counties may not transfer county owned mineral rights, acquired through nonpayment of taxes, to private persons without following the appraisal and public sale provisions of sec. 75.69, Stats. Under sec. 59.07(1)(c), Stats., counties may make gifts of land or interests in lands only to enumerated public entities. 67-236
Multi-county prosecutorial system
A multi-county prosecutorial system could be established, consistent with article VI, section 4, of the Wisconsin Constitution, by reorganizing certain counties and joining them solely for prosecutorial purposes, while allowing them to remain separate for the purpose of exercising all other functions of county government. The electors of each county sharing the services of a particular district attorney, however, would have to participate in the selection of their joint prosecutor. 72-4
Municipal extraterritorial zoning
County shoreland zoning of unincorporated areas adopted pursuant to sec. 59.971, Stats., is not superseded by municipal extraterritorial zoning under sec. 62.23(7a), Stats. Sections 59.971, 62.23(7a) and 144.26, Stats., discussed. Municipal extraterritorial zoning within shorelands is effective insofar as it is consistent with, or more restrictive than, the county shoreland zoning regulations. 63-69
National forest income
Section 59.20(13), Stats., controls the distribution of national forest income by county treasurers derived from 16 U.S.C. sec. 471, et seq and 31 U.S.C. sec. 1601, et seq. (Unpub.). 45-1978
Withdrawn, see 67-277
National forest lands
County which has received payments from the federal government in lieu of taxes under sec. 1 of P. L. No. 94-565, 90 Stat. 2662, cannot distribute such payments to the towns in which the national forest lands are located. 68-23
Nonprofit corporations
A county may, through its boards and commissions, purchase services from various nonprofit organizations within the scope of such board or commission's authority. Where County Board has created community relations-social development commission pursuant to sec. 66.433, Stats., it cannot, through such commission, fund community-wide nonprofit corporations it deems worthy, by setting forth in the commission's budget, the amount of money to go to a specific nonprofit agency. Where a county board creates a sec. 66.433 Commission, it cannot by reason of sec. 59.025(3)(c), Stats., transfer all the duties and functions of such Commission to another board or commission or committee of the County Board. 67-297
Ordinances, applicability of
A county ordinance passed under section 92.11, Stats., may be applicable to incorporated as well as unincorporated areas of the county, whereas a county ordinance passed under section 92.16 is applicable only in the unincorporated areas of the county. 77-87
Ordinances, authority to enact
Counties possess the statutory authority to enact and enforce ordinances prohibiting the issuance of bad checks and trespassing but do not have the authority to enact and enforce ordinances prohibiting battery and theft. 78-38
Park land
An agreement to purchase park land whereby a county is to make deferred payments from an existing nonlapsing account (sufficient to cover the entire obligation) secured by mortgaging the property to the grantor, would not create an obligation within the ambit of ch. 67, Stats., nor constitute a debt in the context of art. XI, sec. 3, Wis. Const. 63-309
Town sanitary district organized under secs. 60.30-60.309, Stats., has power to levy special assessments for improvements against county-owned park lands located within the district. 64-206
Personnel committee
In a county which does not have a county executive or county administrator, the personnel committee of a county board does not possesses the statutory authority to remove the county social services director. The county board in such a county may not, under section 59.025, Stats., transfer the authority to appoint, supervise and remove the social services director from the social services board to a committee of the county board because the statutes concerning the exercise of such authority are enactments primarily of statewide concern. 81-145
Prisons and prisoners
Rights and responsibilities of counties in prisoner transfers to the Wisconsin Resource Center discussed. 71-170
Protective placements
The responsibility for providing and funding facilities for protective placements under ch. 55, Stats., is primarily on the County. The statute does not require a county nursing home to accept such a placement. 66-249
Public property to private corporation
A county board may not give land to a private corporation. The adequacy as consideration for the conveyance of land of a promise by a private corporation to build and operate a factory on the land involves the application of the public purpose doctrine to the specific facts of the conveyance. 80-341
Public Purpose Doctrine
A county board may not give land to a private corporation. The adequacy as consideration for the conveyance of land of a promise by a private corporation to build and operate a factory on the land involves the application of the public purpose doctrine to the specific facts of the conveyance. 80-341
Section 86.105, Stats., does not authorize counties to contract to plow private parking lots. Because of increased availability of private sector alternatives any activity engaged in pursuant to said statute should meet the stringent restrictions set forth in 50 OAG 98 (1961), in an analogous context. 67-304
Under appropriate circumstances, a county may appropriate county funds reasonably necessary for improvement, maintenance and operation of county property which is not deemed to be surplus, even though such property may no longer be required for the public purpose for which it was originally acquired and is not currently required for some other specific public use. 76-169
Public records
A county with a population under 500,000 may, by ordinance enacted pursuant to sec. 19.21(6), Stats., provide for the destruction of obsolete case records maintained by the county social services agency pursuant to sec. 48.59(1), Stats. 70-196
Racetrack
Although a county may not acquire land specifically for the purpose of leasing that land to a private entity licensed to operate a racetrack under section 562.05(1)(a), Stats., it may lease land initially acquired for a valid public purpose to such a private entity, unless the circumstances of the lease demonstrate that the land has become surplus land. 80-80
Real estate
Although a county may not acquire land specifically for the purpose of leasing that land to a private entity licensed to operate a racetrack under section 562.05(1)(a), Stats., it may lease land initially acquired for a valid public purpose to such a private entity, unless the circumstances of the lease demonstrate that the land has become surplus land. 80-80
A county may acquire real estate owned by a private fair association without referendum where it does not intend to conduct county fairs or exhibitions on such property itself. (Unpub.). 4-1975
Real estate, old-age-assistance lien foreclosures
Under sec. 49.26, Stats., a county department of social services, by its director, may make valid conveyances of real estate acquired by the department as a result of old-age-assistance lien foreclosures or transfers in lieu thereof, or as the result of assignments to the department made by the county court in probate or administration proceedings in the estates of old-age-assistance recipients; or of out-of-state real property voluntarily transferred to the department. 63-488
Reapportionment
Under sec. 59.03(3)(c), Stats., alteration of county supervisory district boundaries between decennial censuses is authorized only where ward boundaries originally relied upon in reapportioning the county have been subsequently altered by incorporation, annexation, detachment or consolidation. 63-544
Recycling
Section 59.07(135)(L), Stats., authorizes counties that are responsible units of government under section 159.09(1)(b) to levy taxes for capital and operating expenses incurred in connection with the operation of the county's recycling program only upon those local units of government which have not become responsible units of government pursuant to section 159.09(1)(c). Section 59.07(135)(L) now authorizes counties to levy taxes for both capital and operating expenses incurred in connection with any other form of solid waste management function only upon local units of government which participate with the county in that form of solid waste management activity. Where both recycling and other kinds of solid waste management functions are performed in a single county facility, the county must use accounting principles to apportion the costs of those activities before levying taxes upon local units of governm
Regional Planning Commission
The boundaries of existing multicounty regional planning commissions may only be altered following their dissolution under the procedure set out in section 66.945(15), Stats. 81-70
Methods of withdrawal from a Regional Planning Commission differentiated; authority and role of Commission as regional clearinghouse explained. (Unpub.). 34-1982
Register of Deeds
A register of deeds may not refuse to record instruments that are recordable under state law but are not in compliance with a county subdivision ordinance requiring the preparation of a certified survey map in connection with certain land divisions, even if requested or directed to do so by county ordinance. 79-40
Residence, domicile and legal settlement
Liability, reimbursement and collection for services provided under secs. 51.42 and 51.437, Stats., discussed. 65-49
Social Services Board
Members of a social services board in a county with a county executive or a county administrator may be granted access to child abuse and neglect files pursuant to section 48.981(7)(a)2. of the statutes if such access is necessary to allow them to perform their statutory duties. 79-212
Social services department
A county department of social services has no discretion to refuse to disclose reports and records of child abuse or neglect to the subject of the report or the subject's attorney under section 48.981(7)(a)1. and (c), Stats. 77-84
A county department of social services or county department of human services may not contract with other agencies to obtain section 48.981, Stats., reporting or investigatory services in situations other than the performance of independent investigations required by section 48.981(3)(d). A cooperative contract might be possible under section 66.30(2) in order to effectuate this purpose but the services must be furnished by the county department as defined in section 48.02(2g) and not by any other public or private agency. 76-286
A county human services board may not delegate the duties described in section 51.437(9)(am), (b), (e) and (g), Stats., to the long-term support planning committee created by section 46.27(4). 78-158
Social services director
