July 10, 2026 – Kewaskum, Wi – The Kewaskum Village Board voted 3-0 with 2 abstaining and 2 board members absent to reject a claim by Police Chief Tom Bishop to be reimbursed $17,000 in legal expenses he incurred while fighting disciplinary charges issued by the Board. The charges were eventually dismissed, with the Police and Fire Commission citing the charges had “no merit” against Bishop and Lt. Frank.
While Village president Mark ‘Fuzz’ Martin brought the charges against Bishop and Frank, he voted against reimbursement along with Trustees Mary Schlitt, and Jim Hoveland. Trustee Dick Knoebel abstained from the vote saying he “hired Bishop” and Trustee Jim Wright also abstained. Absent from the meeting were Trustees Wendy Muckerheide and Justin Weninger.
After the meeting, former Village President Kevin Scheunemann and Kewaskum neighbor Michael Fehlhaber set up accounts to help Bishop and Frank shoulder the bills brought on by legal representation.
Fehlhaber said, “As a lifelong resident of the Kewaskum area, until the last few years when I relocated to Texas for work, I’ve always loved this community. Additionally, the Bishop family has been close friends of my family for over a decade now. As a result, I watched what Tom and the entire Bishop family were forced to go through at the hands of village leadership earlier this year, and how the situation ended up metastasizing as it did. Once Chief Bishop was rightfully exonerated, anyone with an American sense of justice knew the right thing to do would have been for the board to reimburse him for the legal expenses he had to front. When they surprisingly decided not to, my wife had the idea of setting up a Give Send Go to allow this great community to help out as they’re able to make the Bishop family whole.”
Neighbors chipped in to show their support, including Trustees Knoebel and Muckerheide. One ‘anonymous giver’ donated $5,000.
Calls have been placed to Village President Mark Martin. As of publication of this article, no call back was received. This story will be updated when more information is available.
Chief Bishop said it has been “overwhelming the amount of support the community has shown him, once again.”
“The support means a ton and it is super humbling and time and again I’m reminded how great this community is,” he said.
On a side note:
-Following the Police and Fire Commission decision on June 8, 2026, to dismiss the charges against Chief Bishop and Lt. Frank, a note was sent by the Village administrator and the Police Chief to reassure the community they would work to move forward together.
-Village administrator Adam Gitter was questioned after the 3-0 vote on Monday, July 6, 2026, about how the letter assured residents they were “reaffirming our commitment to professionalism, teamwork, and mutual respect” by then denying reimbursement of legal charges to a member of their “team we work with every day at the Village.” Gitter said, “The letter is about Tom and I and I serve at the will of the board, so this is an operational type of thing… a culture of the organization thing. The Village Board is the decision makers… they didn’t even read the letter before it was sent out.”
-Gitter confirmed the Village of Kewaskum also incurred legal bills during the proceedings vs. Bishop and Frank. Gitter said “Village insurance” covered the cost. He confirmed taxpayers foot the bill for the insurance. The total cost of legal representation for the Village was not known by Gitter and he asked an open records request be filed to obtain that figure.
June 13, 2026 – Kewaskum, Wi – Just two days after the Kewaskum Police and Fire Commission met to determine the pending return of Officer Jeremy Haske after 107 days of paid administrative leave, comes two signed statements, including one from Police Chief Tom Bishop, who registered a formal complaint against Village administrator Adam Gitter.
Police Chief Tom Bishop sent an email at 3:15 p.m. Friday, June 12, 2026 to “Village Board Members – Please see the attached formal complaint filed on today’s date.” The four-page signed complaint is below.
Click the arrow in the lower left corner to advance the page.
Also included in the email was a 2-page signed “vote of no confidence” from the Kewaskum Professional Police Association WPPA Local 822.
Since February 2026, the Village of Kewaskum has been in the spotlight as the Village Board and president Michael ‘Fuzz’ Martin sought disciplinary action / dismissal against Chief Bishop and Lt. Bryan Frank regarding their part in the hiring of Officer Haske. The Village received an anonymous complaint regarding allegations made against Haske more than 15 years ago. Martin indicated Bishop and Frank failed to properly disclose questionable actions by Haske with a 17-year-old. The Police and Fire Commission eventually dismissed all charges. Click HERE for details.
After the initial PFC decision on Tuesday, several trustees hoped the Village would now return to some form of normalacy.
“This incident has caused a divide in Kewaskum’s residents,” wrote trustee and former Village Police Chief Richard Knoebel. “And it is my hope that we can come together and work towards the future and help to heal these feelings and keep Kewaskum a great place to live.”
Calls have been place to Village President Martin to see if/when the board would address the formal complaint.
The agenda for the June 15, 2026 Village Board meeting was emailed at 11:07 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2026. The agenda does not have any action scheduled to address the Chief’s concern or the vote of no confidence by the WPPA.
This is a working story and more information will be posted when details are available.
Below is a past article tied to Wednesday’s meeting of the Police and Fire Commission.
June 10, 2026 – Kewaskum, Wi – There is a meeting at 4 p.m. this afternoon of the Kewaskum Police and Fire Commission. According to the agenda, posted below, the discussion on the future of officer Jeremy Haske will be conducted in open session.
UPDATE: After 8 minutes of discussion the Police & Fire Commission recommended Haske be allowed to return to work.
In a one-on-one phone conversation Haske said about the decision, “Obviously I’m very pleased with the decisions the Police & Fire Commission have made and I’m just looking forward to getting back to work and providing a quality service to the Village of Kewaskum residents.”
A signed statement was then released at the Wednesday meeting from Village administrator Adam Gitter, “This letter serves as formal notice that your paid administrative leave is hereby concluded.”
It has been confirmed Haske will not be in attendance as he still is on paid administrative leave. According to the documents the paid leave also bans him from Village property.
This afternoon’s meeting is in the council chambers at Village Hall. The meeting is open to the public.
This is a working story and more information will be posted when details are available.
