(WFRV) – A bipartisan special prosecutor review of Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich’s directive to place recording devices in City Hall in 2021 and 2022 has concluded.
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According to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney and former Door County District Attorney Joan Korb, the decision not to file charges was ‘based on the inability to prove violations beyond a reasonable doubt.’
The review was bipartisan, as Toney and Korb are a Republican and a Democrat, respectively. Toney cited the need to follow the facts and law, not politics or emotions, as well.
“Partisan politics has no place in the justice system, and we will not engage in lawfare,” Toney said via the release.
According to the Mayor Genrich review, the overall investigation stems from the installation of microphones at City Hall in 2021 and 2022, retaining the audio reportedly for up to 180 days. The audio was recorded outside City Council Chambers and Mayor Genrich’s office.
These devices, installed with the City Attorney’s consent, were then removed due to a March 2023 order from Judge Hammer.
According to Toney’s investigation, none of the audio reviewed with video showed any type of conversations that indicated ‘an expectation of privacy based on the public space and notice to City of Green Bay employees that those spaces were being recorded.’
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The conclusion was as follows:
“Each recorded conversation must be reviewed on its own merit. If a conversation occurred after hours, in a hushed manner, moving away from doors or other areas, that could provide an expectation of privacy. However, we have no conversations that appear to fit that circumstance.
Accordingly, we do not believe the State could prove a violation beyond a reasonable doubt for Mayor Genrich or any other city employees based on audio recording devices being removed and a review of the available evidence and audio recordings.”
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney
The release was sent out with an additional review that concluded no charges would be filed against Wausau Mayor Doug Diny regarding an ‘unsecured Official Drop Box.’
