Green Bay mayor cleared in city hall recording probe

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Special prosecutors declined to recommend criminal charges against Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich over the installation of audio recording devices in City Hall following a three-year investigation.

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said in a news release that bipartisan prosecutors concluded they have no ability to prove Genrich violated state statutes when the administration directed city staff to install the devices sometime between winter 2021 and summer 2022.

Attorney Ryan Walsh in February 2023 requested Brown County District Attorney David Lasee investigate Genrich and the city’s decision to install the devices and its audio surveillance practices. Walsh also filed a 2023 civil lawsuit over the recording devices on behalf of plaintiffs including the Wisconsin Senate, state Sen. Andre Jacque and former City Council member Tony Theisen.

Toney notified Lasee in an April 8 letter, concluding, “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 review of the available evidence and audio recordings.”

Lasee referred the investigation to the West Allis Police Department and the decision on whether to file charges to Toney’s office. Toney, a Republican, and Assistant District Attorney Joan Korb, formerly a Democrat DA in Door County, conducted the review.

Toney in the release indicated he waited until after the April 7 spring election to announce the results “to avoid any possible influence on local races in Brown County.”

Genrich, the city’s Law Department and the city’s spokesperson have not responded yet to the Press-Gazette’s request for comment.

How we got here:

The Genrich administration between winter 2021 and summer 2022 installed audio recording devices in the first- and second-floor hallways in response to three reports of verbal assaults in the six-story building.

City Council members in February 2023 sought answers from Genrich about the surveillance equipment in City Hall and raised concerns about them. Genrich’s office defended the installation of the devices, noting similar audio recording devices were in place at Metro Transit and the Green Bay Police Department offices. It also on Feb. 10, 2023, published a City Hall Security fact sheet that included plans to install signs notifying the public of the audio recording devices.

A Brown County judge in March 2023 ordered the devices removed from city hall and shortly thereafter, the Green Bay City Council voted to remove the devices, destroy the recordings in the city’s possession and create a policy that banned listening devices within City Hall.

Jacque, Theisen, a “Jane Doe” later identified as local attorney Janet Angus, and the Wisconsin Senate in February 2023 filed a lawsuit against Genrich and the city in Brown County Circuit Court alleging the recording devices violated citizens’ expectation of privacy because the public did not know it was being recorded.

They moved the case to federal court, filing a similar lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin.

Jacque and Theisen in summer 2024 settled the civil lawsuit for $200,000 and $100,000 payments, respectively.

The special prosecutors’ review only focused on whether criminal violations occurred.

Meanwhile, former City Council member Chris Wery’s recent civil lawsuit against Genrich and the city will continue in Brown County Circuit Court. Wery’s lawsuit claims the installation of audio recorders at City Hall violated Wisconsin’s laws on privacy and surveillance as well as the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches.