The Racine County Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency that serves Racine County, providing police services to multiple areas throughout the county, including contracted areas. The current sheriff is Christopher Schmaling, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

who was first elected in 2010.

Leadership

Sheriff

The incumbent sheriff of Racine County is Christopher Schmaling. Schmaling has been part of the sheriff's office since 1996. He was first elected in the

2010 midterm election The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the H ...

, receiving 63 percent of the vote. Schmaling took office on January 3, 2011, replacing retiring sheriff Robert Carlson, who had served in the position since 2003. Schmaling is a

and member of the

Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is a political organization of local police officials in the United States who contend that federal and state government authorities are subordinate to the local authority of county ...

, and has campaigned for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin The global COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. state of Wisconsin in early February 2020. Although Wisconsin has to date experienced 144 deaths per 100,000 residents, significantly fewer than the US national average of 196 deaths, COVID-19 was one ...

, Schmaling refused to enforce the state's stay-at-home order, claiming it was unconstitutional. In 2021, Schmaling accused the

Wisconsin Elections Commission The Wisconsin Elections Commission is a bipartisan regulatory agency of the State of Wisconsin established to administer and enforce election laws in the state. The Wisconsin Elections Commission was established by a 2015 act of the Wisconsin Leg ...

of breaking the law during the 2020 election, in connection with claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election: the Racine County prosecutor declined to bring charges. In 2022, Schmaling declined to investigate a man who had requested fraudulent absentee ballots in order to demonstrate weaknesses in the absentee ballot request system.

Chief deputy

The chief deputy of the sheriff's office serves as the sheriff's second-in-command. The current chief deputy is John C. Hanrahan. In 2004, the Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators awarded him with the Michael Vendola Death Investigator of the Year Award. He was involved in the investigation of

Racine County Jane Doe Peggy Lynn Johnson (formerly known as Racine County Jane Doe), also known by the last name Schroeder, was an American woman whose body was discovered in 1999 in the town of Raymond, Racine County, Wisconsin. She was 23 years old at the time of ...

Jail

The Racine County Jail, located in downtown Racine and sharing a block with the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, is the primary detention facility of the county and the sheriff's office. The jail has a maximum capacity of 876 inmates, making it one of the largest non-state detention facilities in Wisconsin. As of December 2015, the jail had a population of 667. The current administrator of the Racine County Jail is Captain Bradley Friend.Racine County Jail website
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References

External links

Official website
{{Racine County, Wisconsin} Racine County, Wisconsin Sheriffs' offices of Wisconsin