This has stopped being an election story and became an open government story.
H.O.T. GOVERNMENT
Honest Open Transparent
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2026
262-770-9796 / 262-930-5467
SHERIFF'S OFFICE IGNORES CERTIFIED-MAIL RECORDS REQUEST; COUNTY SCHEDULES PRODUCTION FOR THE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION
Every official whose office is withholding the records has publicly endorsed the candidate the records concern.
RACINE COUNTY, Wis. — Wisconsin's Public Records Law opens with a declaration: providing the public “with the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government” is “an essential function of a representative government,” and “only in an exceptional case may access be denied.” Wis. Stat. § 19.31. For fifty days, Racine County has treated that command as optional — and the pattern of who is withholding what tells its own story.
The record, drawn entirely from the County's own correspondence — posted complete and unedited at hotgovernment.com:
● The Racine County Sheriff's Office has never responded — in any form — to two public records requests concerning its handling of former Deputy Preston Kite, now serving 65 years for 45 felonies. The second request was delivered by certified mail on July 6, 2026 (USPS Article No. 9589 0710 5270 3661 0797 88). Under Wisconsin law, this silence is a constructive denial.
● Racine County Corporation Counsel acknowledged parallel June 8 requests to itself and County HR on June 10, promising a response “as soon as practicable and without delay.” After a formal Notice of Unreasonable Delay on July 21, the County's full answer, July 22: “Barring unforeseen
circumstances, we hope to have your request fulfilled within three weeks.” That is approximately August 12 — one day after the August 11 primary election for Sheriff. No specific date. No statutory exemption claimed for a single item.
● The County has confirmed in writing that the UKG timekeeping audit records behind Captain Cary Madrigal's June 3, 2026, duty roster — a roster that changed between a timestamped 12:57 PM screenshot and the version the County produced July 15 — are preserved under a directive to all custodians. Confirmed to exist. Confirmed preserved. Not produced. No date. No exemption.
● By contrast: Kenosha Joint Services — the consolidated records agency serving both the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department and the Kenosha Police Department — has answered twice: 67 pages on the first request, and 117 pages on July 23, five days after the request, with a written determination letter. The agency holding the underlying criminal file answered in days. The agency whose own former deputy is its subject has not answered at all. And the same Racine Corporation Counsel office produced the June 3 duty roster in exactly two weeks when asked — the capacity to respond exists; the choice not to is the story.
Now set the withholding beside two publicly documented facts:
● Sheriff Christopher Schmaling — whose office has ignored both requests, including the certified letter — administered Captain Madrigal's 10-day suspension in the Kite matter and has publicly endorsed her to succeed him.
● District Attorney Patricia Hanson — whose June 18 letter confirms that no criminal referrals arising from the Kite matter were made to the FBI or Wisconsin DOJ. has publicly endorsed Madrigal and appears alongside her on the June 17 fundraiser's own public listing.
● Separately, as a matter of record: two H.O.T. Government letters to the full 21-member County Board of Supervisors — the elected body with oversight of the Sheriff's Office — have drawn exactly one non-answer reply from a single Supervisor, and nothing else.
“This stopped being an election story and became an open government story,” said Harry Wait of H.O.T. Government. “A certified letter the Sheriff's office signed for and never answered. A county law office that can find a roster in two weeks but can't name a date for anything else. Audit records the County admits exist, admits it preserved, and won't hand over until the day after the vote. Wisconsin's records law says only in an exceptional case may access be denied. Racine County's position appears to be that an election is the exceptional case. The law says the opposite — the election is exactly when the public's right to these records matters most.”
Wait added: “We're not asking anyone to trust our characterization of a single document. Every request, every acknowledgment, every delay letter, and the County's own 'three weeks' reply are posted in full at hotgovernment.com. Read the correspondence and count the days yourself.” H.O.T. Government's July 21 notice advised the County in writing that absent a substantive response, the requests would be treated as constructively denied and the remedies under Wis. Stat. § 19.37 pursued — a mandamus action in which courts may award attorney fees, damages, and punitive damages for arbitrary and capricious delay. Because the county-level enforcement authority has endorsed the candidate whose records are at issue, any enforcement referral will be directed to state authorities.
The complete correspondence file — including the certified-mail receipt, the County's acknowledgments and replies, the preservation notice and the County's written preservation confirmation, and both versions of the June 3 roster — is posted at hotgovernment.com.
About H.O.T. Government
H.O.T. Government (Honest Open Transparent) is an independent citizen accountability organization in Racine County, Wisconsin. It accepts no funding from and does not coordinate with any candidate or campaign, and it endorses no one. All source documents for its investigations are published in full at hotgovernment.com.
All persons named are presumed innocent unless and until proven otherwise in a court of law.
RACINE COUNTY CORPORATION COUNSEL
3 messages
NOTICE OF UNREASONABLE DELAY
July 21, 2026
Public Records Team, Office of Racine County Corporation Counsel, 730 Wisconsin Avenue, 10th Floor, Racine, WI 53403
Subject: Public Records Request of June 8, 2026 — Acknowledged June 10; Unreasonable Delay in Production To the Public Records Team:
Your office acknowledged receipt of my June 8, 2026 public records request (five items, including the Hall scope-of-engagement letter, the Case No. 26-CV-280 records, and communications with the Kenosha and Racine County District Attorneys) by email on June 10, 2026, stating a response would be provided “as soon as practicable and without delay.” I appreciate the acknowledgment; this letter is not a claim that your office failed to respond. It is, rather, notice that more than forty (40) days have now passed since that acknowledgment without any production, partial production, exemption log, or estimated completion date. “As soon as practicable and without delay” does not authorize an open-ended holding period. Wis. Stat. § 19.35(4).
I request, within five (5) business days: (1) a specific date by which production will be complete, or a specific explanation — tied to the volume or complexity of the records — for the delay; and (2) if any item will be withheld in whole or part, the specific statutory exemption for each, per §19.35(4)(a). A partial, itemized production is preferable to continued silence. Absent a substantive response, I will treat the request as constructively denied and pursue the remedies under Wis. Stat. § 19.37.
Respectfully,
Harry Wait, requester of record
H.O.T. Government
4353 Shianne St.,
Union Grove, WI 53182 262-770-9796
June 8, 2026
Racine County Human Resources Department
730 Wisconsin Avenue
Racine, Wisconsin 53403
RE: Open Records Request Pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31–19.39 — Kite/Madrigal Matter
Dear Records Custodian:
Pursuant to the Wisconsin Open Records Law, H.O.T. Government requests the following records relating to the Kite/Madrigal matter at the Racine County Sheriff's Office:
1. All records of HR involvement in the matter of former Deputy Preston Kite from February 2024 through the conclusion of the Hall investigation, including any communications with Corporation Counsel regarding the scope of the investigation.
2. All HR complaints filed by RASO employees relating to Preston Kite at any time prior to his February 4, 2024 arrest.
3. Documentation of whether any mandatory reporter obligations under Wisconsin law — including but not limited to Wis. Stat. § 48.981 (mandatory reporting of child abuse) — were triggered by the findings of the Hall investigation and, if so, how those obligations were discharged.
4. All records of any HR communications with Captain Cary Madrigal relating to the Kite matter, including any records of the Loudermill meeting held February 20, 2025.
5. All communications between HR and Sheriff Schmaling regarding the decision to impose a 10-day suspension rather than termination in the Madrigal disciplinary matter.
Please respond in writing within ten business days as required by Wis. Stat. § 19.35(4). If any portion of this request is denied, please identify each specific exemption claimed and advise of available appeal procedures.
Respectfully submitted,
Harry Wait
4353 Shianne st.
Racine, Wisconsin
June 8, 2026
Good afternoon,
Our office is in receipt of the below public records request dated June 8, 2026, wherein you seek the following records relating to the Kite/Madrigal matter at the Racine County Sheriff's Office:
1. All records of HR involvement in the matter of former Deputy Preston Kite from February 2024 through the conclusion of the Hall investigation, including any communications with Corporation Counsel regarding the scope of the investigation.
2. All HR complaints filed by RASO employees relating to Preston Kite at any time prior to his February 4, 2024 arrest.
3. Documentation of whether any mandatory reporter obligations under Wisconsin law — including but not limited to Wis. Stat. § 48.981 (mandatory reporting of child abuse) — were triggered by the findings of the Hall investigation and, if so, how those obligations were discharged.
4. All records of any HR communications with Captain Cary Madrigal relating to the Kite matter, including any records of the Loudermill meeting held February 20, 2025.
5. All communications between HR and Sheriff Schmaling regarding the decision to impose a 10-day suspension rather than termination in the Madrigal disciplinary matter.
Be advised that your request was received on this date. Please be advised that this office is not the custodian of records for the Racine County Sheriff's Office nor the Racine County Human Resources Department and is writing as Counsel for Racine County. We are in the process of locating records that may be responsive to your request. A response to your request will be provided as soon as practicable and without delay. In the meantime, please feel free to contact our office if you have any questions or concerns.
Office of Racine County Corporation Counsel
Public Records Team
730 Wisconsin Avenue - 10th Floor, Racine, WI 53403 262.636.3115
Good afternoon,
Our office is working diligently to fulfill your requests. Given the scope of your request to both Racine County HR and Racine County Corporation Counsel, significant staff time is required to locate and identify records responsive to your requests. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we hope to have your request fulfilled within three weeks. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we work to fulfill your request.
Office of Racine County Corporation Counsel
Public Records Team
730 Wisconsin Avenue - 10th Floor, Racine, WI 53403 262.636.3115
This message is being sent by or on behalf of a lawyer. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged or confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and delete all copies of the message.
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2026 9:03 AM
Thank you for your July 22 response. Three points, briefly.
First, please convert the estimate to a date certain. "We hope to... barring unforeseen circumstances" is not a production date. Please state the specific date by which production will be complete.
Second, I note that a three-week timeline from July 22 concludes on or about August 12, 2026 — one day after the August 11 primary election in which the subject of several requested records is a candidate. The public interest in these records exists now. Wis. Stat. § 19.31 declares that providing persons with information about government affairs is "an essential function of a representative government"; that function is not served by production the day after the vote. I therefore request rolling production: release records as they are located and reviewed, rather than holding all records for a single release. Your office stated on June 10 that it was already "in the process of locating records" — six weeks ago. Records located since then should be producible now.
Third, my June 23, 2026 follow-up remains unanswered: please confirm in writing whether my June 8 request to the Human Resources Department was forwarded to the HR records custodian and to the Sheriff's Office, and on what date. Your office has stated it is not the custodian for either; a request cannot be satisfied by a non-custodian's timeline.
For clarity, this correspondence concerns the June 8, 2026 requests. My separate July 15, 2026 request to your office for the June 3, 2026 timekeeping audit records — five narrow items concerning a single day — remains subject to its own statutory response obligation and is not encompassed by the three-week estimate.
Please respond within five (5) business days with the date certain, the rolling-production commitment or the specific basis for refusing it, and the forwarding confirmation.
Respectfully,
Harry Wait, requester of record
H.O.T. Government
4353 Shianne St., Union Grove, WI 53182
262-770-9796
