LETTERS: Judge’s bad judgment getting costly for Ozaukee taxpayers

To Ozaukee Press:

Judge Joseph Voiland’s judgment is becoming a very expensive proposition for Ozaukee County taxpayers.

I read the article in last week’s Ozaukee Press about the criminal case involving John Borowski and threats he allegedly made against Judge Voiland.

The jury’s found Borowski not guilty.

I was sorry to read about the alleged threats, but what really caught my eye in that article is that Ozaukee County has been ordered to pay for Borowski’s attorney in a family law case.

That case is now being heard by a Washington County Judge who issued that order.

According to the article, Judge Voiland had prohibited Borowski from filing anything in his case except a petition for appointment of an attorney.

The Washington County judge found the order denied Borowski access to the courts and appointed a lawyer for him.

In addition, the Washington County judge found that Judge Voiland was apparently aware that his order could block Borowski from accessing the court and issued the order anyway.

The case involved a dispute about the Borowski’s children.

What more important issue could one have in their lives than their kids?

As a result, the Washington County judge issued an order appointing an attorney for the man and ordered Ozaukee County to pay for it with the hope that it can be reimbursed later on.

Judge Voiland also prompted an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations into his claims of misconduct by a fellow judge, clerk of courts and family court commissioner.

The investigation spanned 18 months and involved special agents form the department, attorneys from the Wisconsin attorney general’s office, Judge Voiland and the district’s chief judge, as well as employees of the court system and other clerk of courts offices.

Judge Voiland then walked away from the investigation when he decided not to provide any further information.

The investigation was then closed with absolutely no action taken and yielded nothing. Then the state decided it needed a second investigation and hired a former judge and investigator to find what the trained special agents apparently could not.

That has been pending since February. I have not seen anything about it other than that Judge Voiland’s attorney asked the chief judge to withdraw from the investigation because he felt she might be biased.

We call them judges for a reason—their judgment.

Judge Voiland has been in office almost five years and has not grown into the job.

Instead, his missteps seem to continue to cost taxpayers money.

Maybe it is time for Judge Voiland to look at other career options.

Leigh Ullman
Port Washington