17.12(2)(c)(c) Appointive. Appointive officers, by whomsoever appointed, by the council, at pleasure, by a majority vote; and officers appointed by any officer or body other than the council may also be removed from office by the officer or body that appointed them, at pleasure, by vote as provided in sub. (1) (d). 17.12(3)(3) Suspension. The mayor of any city may summarily suspend from office any officer thereof whose removal is sought and against whom charges have been preferred therefor, and may appoint an officer to discharge the duties of such office until such charges have been disposed of. If such charges are dismissed, the officer so suspended shall thereby be restored to office and be entitled to the emoluments of the office for all of the time the officer would have served therein had the officer not been suspended. 17.12(3m)(3m) Common council authority. Notwithstanding subs. (1) and (2) and subject to sub. (4), a city may by ordinance provide that any appointed city officer may be removed only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, official misconduct, or malfeasance in office. 17.12(4)(4) General exception. But no officer of any city, appointed according to merit and fitness under and subject to a civil service or to a police and fire commission law, or whose removal is governed by such a law, shall be removed otherwise than as therein provided. 17.12 AnnotationCity officers are subject to s. 17.03 vacancy provisions. Wellnitz v. Board of Police & Fire Commissioners, 151 Wis. 2d 306, 444 N.W.2d 412 (Ct. App. 1989). 17.1317.13 Removal of village, town, town sanitary district, school district, and technical college officers. Officers of towns, town sanitary districts, villages, school districts, and technical college districts may be removed as follows: 17.13(1)(1) Appointive officers. Except as provided in s. 60.30 (1e) (c) and (f), any appointive village, town, town sanitary district, school district and technical college district officer, by the officer or body that appointed him or her, at pleasure. Removal of any such officer by a body shall be by a majority vote of all the members thereof. 17.13(2)(2) Elective village officers. Any elective village officer by a majority vote of all the members of the village board, because of continued physical inability to perform the duties of office or gross neglect of duty. 17.13(2m)(2m) Elective town officers. Any elective town officer by a majority vote of all the members of the town board, because of continued physical inability to perform the duties of office or gross neglect of duty. 17.13(3)(3) All officers. Any village, town, town sanitary district, school district or technical college district officer, elective or appointive, including those embraced within subs. (1), (2), and (2m), by the judge of the circuit court of the circuit wherein the village, town, town sanitary district, school district or technical college district is situated, for cause. 17.13 AnnotationIf a statute provides that a public officer, including VTAE (technical college) board members, serves at pleasure but is appointed for a term, the officer may be summarily dismissed during the term. 62 Atty. Gen. 97.
17.13 AnnotationA town board was restrained from discharging its police chief until the issue of impermissible consideration of the chief’s political activities was resolved. Kuhlmann v. Bloomfield Township, 521 F. Supp. 1242 (1981). 17.1417.14 Removal; assessors; boards of review; county boards; procedure. Any assessor and any member of a board of review or of a county board of supervisors, in addition to being removable as otherwise provided, may be removed by the circuit court for the county of the assessor or member, as follows: 17.14(1)(1) Assessors. Any assessor for one or more of the following causes: 17.14(1)(a)(a) Willful or intentional assessment of property at other than its true cash value with the intent to subject such property to more or less than its lawful share of taxes. 17.14(1)(b)(b) Willful or intentional omission of taxable property from the assessment roll with intent to permit the same to escape taxation. 17.14(1)(c)(c) Willful or intentional assessment of the property of one person at a lower value than the property of another or others whereby favoritism or discrimination between taxpayers in the district is shown. 17.14(1)(d)(d) Solicitation or receipt of any favor, reward, money or other thing of value of or from the owner of any taxable property in the assessor’s assessment district for the assessment or valuation of property at other than its true cash value. 17.14(1)(e)(e) Solicitation or demand by any assessor of any owner of property liable to assessment in the assessor’s assessment district to aid, assist or promote the business or interests of such assessor by means of which and by virtue of the office of assessor the assessor shall gain or receive pecuniary profit or advantage that the assessor could not otherwise have gained or received. 17.14(1)(f)(f) Any violation of law in the valuation or assessment of property in the assessor’s assessment district. 17.14(1)(g)(g) Failure to use the “Wisconsin Property Assessment Manual” provided under s. 73.03 (2a) and as required by s. 70.32 (1) and 70.34. The certification of any assessor removed under this paragraph may for sufficient reason be reinstated by the secretary of revenue after one year upon formal application for reinstatement. 17.14(1)(h)(h) Failure or refusal to deny claims for exemption or to terminate exemptions pursuant to direction of the secretary of revenue under s. 73.03 (45). 17.14(2)(2) Members of boards of review and county board. Any supervisor, alderperson, trustee or other officer who acts as a member of a board of review or of the county board of supervisors, for one or more of the following causes: 17.14(2)(a)(a) Willful or intentional valuation or equalization of property of persons or towns, cities or villages at other than the true cash value thereof, with the intent to subject the property of persons or of towns, cities or villages to more or less than their lawful share of taxes. 17.14(2)(b)(b) Aiding, abetting or assisting in any understanding, combination or conspiracy to value or equalize the property in towns, cities or villages in a county at other than the true cash value, with intent to subject the property in one or more towns, cities or villages to more or less than its lawful share of taxes for state or county purposes or both. 17.14(2)(c)(c) Any violation of law in the valuation or equalization of property in towns, cities or villages or in the discharge of official duties. 17.14(3)(3) Procedure. Removals under this section may be made by the circuit judge, by order specifying the cause thereof, a copy of which order shall be certified by the circuit judge to the proper town, village or city clerk. The removal shall be made only upon a duly verified petition signed by a resident of the county setting forth fully the charges preferred against the officer. The district attorney of the county upon complaint showing cause therefor shall prepare the petition and have the petition duly verified by the complainant. The judge, upon the presentation of the petition, shall by an order to show cause, which shall be served upon the officer personally at least 10 days prior to the hearing, fix a time and place for hearing the matters alleged in the petition. The testimony shall be taken and the proceedings conducted under such reasonable regulations as the judge prescribes. The district attorney shall attend the hearing and conduct the proceedings on behalf of the petitioner. The removal of the officer shall disqualify the officer from holding the office for 3 years from the date of the order of removal.