By: Associated Press//January 28, 2014//
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A judge has declared void Milwaukee’s 75-year-old requirement that municipal workers live within the city’s boundaries.
A provision in the state budget passed last year bars residency requirements for public workers other than police, fire and emergency personnel. Those workers can be required to live within 15 miles of where they work.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Paul Van Grunsven ruled Monday that the state law “creates a constitutional liberty interest in being free from residency requirements” to get a municipal job and Milwaukee’s residency rule can no longer be enforced.
Mayor Tom Barrett tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the city will appeal.
Barrett previously cited a study that found 60 percent of Milwaukee’s 7,000 workers could leave the city over the next 11 years without the residency rule.
Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com