Wisconsin taxpayers accuse Legislature of wasting funds on private attorneys

Source: Courthouse News Service

February 23, 2026


MADISON, Wis. (CN) — Three Wisconsin taxpayers accused the Legislature of wasting taxpayer dollars to the tune of $26 million on private lawyers to undermine Democrat Attorney General Josh Kaul in a newly available lawsuit. In 2018, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a series of laws during an extraordinary lame duck session held weeks after current Governor Tony Evers and Kaul won elections against conservative incumbents but before they were sworn into office.

The lame duck laws reined in the executive powers of both offices to give the Legislature more oversight and leverage over the newly Democratic-controlled executive branch. The plaintiffs in this case have taken aim at one bundle of the lame duck laws, which gives the Legislature the authority to hire private attorneys to represent its interests in place of the state Department of Justice, as prescribed in the state constitution.

This practice violates the public purpose and separation of powers doctrines of the constitution, according to the taxpayers, because there is no legitimate purpose for hiring a private attorney to do the job Kaul was elected to perform free of charge.

“In many instances, there is no legitimate reason, much less necessity, for these public expenditures on private counsel when the Legislature’s statutorily designated counsel — the attorney general and DOJ — are available to represent at no additional cost to taxpayers,” they said in the 43-page complaint.

Read more: https://courthousenews.com/wisconsin-taxpayers-accuse-legislature-of-wasting-funds-on-private-attorneys/