Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday he will proceed with the removal process for Calumet County District Attorney Kenneth Kratz as he received two formal complaints from County residents.
""Today I received a verified complaint against DA Kratz and I have begun the process to remove him from office,"" Doyle said in a statement. ""As a former three-term District Attorney and a former three-term Attorney General I have worked hard to protect victims of crime, and I am deeply troubled by the accounts of DA Kratz's actions.""
Heather Severson of Appleton, Wis., and Kathleen Gloff from Chilton, Wis., each filed a complaint against Kratz, who has been accused by numerous women of sexual harassment and abuses of his position.
Neither Severson nor Gloff said they were personally harassed by Kratz, but they each said in their complaints that they sympathize with the victims, particularly with Stephanie Van Groll, a domestic abuse victim, for personal reasons.
Gloff, a volunteer with Harbor House Domestic Abuse Programs, said she is deeply concerned by Kratz's conduct, and believes it constitutes ""inefficiency, neglect of duty, official misconduct or malfeasance.""
Severson said she has a particular interest in the issue because of a friend she once lost to domestic violence.
""If speaking out changes the way one person thinks about domestic violence, I have done my job,"" she said in her complaint.
Doyle took the next step of the removal process and appointed Kenosha County District Attorney Bob Jambois as commissioner of the case.
""I want every crime victim, particularly those of sensitive crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse to know they can go into a police station or a prosecutor's office and be treated in a professional and respectful manner,"" Doyle said.
