MILWAUKEE — After a year-long open records battle with ten district attorneys, TMJ4's Lighthouse investigative team is doing something never done before in Wisconsin—exposing information several prosecutors and police departments have long resisted making public.
What began last year with revealing the names of every Brady list officer in Milwaukee County, TMJ4’s Duty to Disclose investigation is now expanding to every county in southeastern Wisconsin. TMJ4 has obtained the names and allegations against Brady-flagged officers in 10 counties. Over the coming weeks, Investigative Reporter Ben Jordan will tell their stories.
It's a basic expectation that comes with the power of carrying a badge and a gun: being trusted to tell the truth.
"We're supposed to be able to believe the police," Civil rights attorney Corey Saffold said.
Because their testimony is often key evidence that sends someone to prison.
"It's very dangerous for our criminal justice system, and it needs to be called out," Saffold said.
For nearly 140 current and former officers spread across these 10 counties in southeastern Wisconsin, credibility could be called into question when justice is on the line. It comes with a designation no officer wants — being labeled a Brady-flagged cop, whether they know it or not.
What is a Brady list or a Brady ‘flagged’ officer?
Prosecutors have no choice but to track officers with alleged credibility concerns due to past allegations of crime, dishonesty, or bias. The 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland requires that prosecutors turn that information over to defense attorneys in any case a Brady-flagged officer is involved — to ensure a fair trial. If a judge allows, it could be used by the defense attorney as exculpatory evidence to question the credibility of an officer in court.
"In the hands of a defense attorney who knows what they're doing, this is very powerful evidence to undermine their case," Public Defender Kevin Smith said.
But how prosecutors track those officers is entirely up to them.
"Right now, we have 71 different district attorneys that could be doing this very differently," Eric Toney said.
Town of Hartford Police Chief Shawn McGee says hiring agencies sometimes aren't alerted of a current or former officer’s Brady status.
"We had a former officer; until you reached out to us, I had no idea he was on a Brady list," McGee said. "And we even talked to the department. Why wouldn't they tell us?"
Why TMJ4 is releasing the names
Throughout our original Duty to Disclose series on Milwaukee County's Brady list in partnership with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Watch, TMJ4 heard from a lot of viewers asking, "Why stop there?" They wanted to know who's Brady-flagged in their county, such as Waukesha, Sheboygan, or Kenosha, to name a few.
TMJ4 believes the public has the right to know that information because police officer testimony is often key evidence that sends someone to prison.
"It's incredibly important and great to see that journalists are looking into this," Walworth County Public Defender Kevin Smith said.
Jordan spent the last year sending hundreds of open records requests and emails to obtain information some district attorneys refused to give up — until they learned from the state's Department of Justice that they had to.
"Why do you think some of these DAs fought me so hard on releasing these records?" Jordan asked civil rights attorney Nate Cade.
"Remember, they have to work with the police. OK?” Cade replied.
What the officers are accused of
Our year-long investigation found 81% of Brady officers in southeastern Wisconsin are flagged for alleged untruthfulness. One of them is former Grafton officer Urs Brechbuehler.
According to the Ozaukee County district attorney, the untruthfulness allegations stem from a traffic stop back in April. But the exact details can only be found in Brechbuehler's disciplinary records, which he is now suing the Village of Grafton to block TMJ4 from obtaining. Brechbuehler and his attorney declined Jordan’s interview request.
Andrew Wieland was the driver Brechbuehler pulled over.
"Do you want to know what Mr. Brechbuehler was allegedly untruthful about?" Jordan asked Wieland.
"Yes. I want to know it all. I want to know why. Why are you just picking on citizens who are just trying to go about their day?" Wieland said.
Eleven officers are Brady flagged for alleged crimes, and only two are flagged for accusations of bias — including Ozaukee County Deputy Andrew Pohl. Internal records obtained by TMJ4 show Pohl was accused of telling a Hispanic prosecutor in 2025 to quote, "give that [expletive] Mexican more time."
Pohl has not responded to Jordan's interview requests, but Pohl's suspension notice that was obtained by TMJ4 states an interview investigation found that "there appeared to be no bias, racism or unprofessional contacts with the public."
But a district attorney elsewhere says the alleged bias could create challenges in court.
"If I have a client that's Mexican or Hispanic and he's on that case, what am I going to do? Attack that officer's credibility as much as I can," Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis said.
A child homicide case impacted
In Fond du Lac County, a district attorney letter says allegations of racial bias and credibility concerns for a former Fond du Lac police detective impacted how they prosecuted a child homicide case.
Court records show the mother of the 2-month-old victim was found guilty in 2021 for first-degree reckless homicide and walked free on probation at sentencing — with credit for just over two years of time served.
"Child homicides are some of the worst cases we have," DA Toney said.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Toney says one of the most concerning allegations against former detective William Ledger were found on his work phone — particularly a text investigators found he sent to an attorney in 2016 explaining one of the reasons he wouldn't interview a witness, quote, "I don't want to hear their answer because it hurts my case."
"I sent a letter to the police department saying we would never prosecute future cases involving him," Toney said.
Despite multiple attempts to reach Ledger — even showing up at his home — Jordan has not heard back.
No way off the list in some counties
There are also officers on the list for reasons they can't believe. Take Dodge County Deputy Robbie Weinfurter for example. Dodge County records show he was placed on the DA’s Brady list in 2014 for lying to officers about his age when he was caught drinking decades ago before he turned 21.
"It's not for some 20-year-old college student who didn't even know what Brady was who lied about his age. I don't think that's it at all," Weinfurter said.
Dodge County District Attorney Andrea Will tells TMJ4, "Deputy Weinfurter should be removed from the Brady list," for lying to an officer about how old he 26 years ago when he was caught drinking underage.
"I do not believe that there is a mechanism in the State of Wisconsin to be removed from the Brady list," Will said.
"We basically found every DA does it their own way. Why do you think that's the case?" Jordan asked Toney.
"Because there's no state law. That's why we need a state law in place that has that uniformity, and I believe DAs are in support of that," Toney said.
A fight for the records
Toney was one of two DAs who agreed to do an on-camera interview, but all 10 had no choice but to eventually fulfill TMJ4’s records request.
Kenosha and Sheboygan counties provided their lists the same day as Jordan’s request. Others originally rejected Jordan’s request, like Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld, who replied that his office does not "maintain a 'Brady list.'"
After nine months of email exchanges, Wiedenfeld finally provided Jordan with Brady list notifications sent by law enforcement agencies, in a stack of around a thousand documents he says could not be provided digitally. After several declined on-camera interview requests, Jordan showed up to ask Wiedenfeld questions as he walked out of court.
"DA Wiedenfeld, I know you declined our interview request, but people are going to want to hear directly from you about your Brady process," I said.
"I have some victims I have to meet with right now, so I can't right now," Wiedenfeld said.
Some DAs initially provided as little as a list of names with no information. Others included employment statuses, agencies, and allegations. Despite every DA having a different process, TMJ4 was able to obtain and verify that information through prosecutors and police departments in all 10 counties.
Most DAs' responses came with a disclaimer like one from Wiedenfeld saying, quote, "My office does not make those determinations on whether allegations of dishonesty are founded or unfounded."
By the numbers
Of the southeastern Wisconsin counties TMJ4 investigated outside of Milwaukee County, Walworth (28), Kenosha (26) and Dodge (25) counties have the most Brady-flagged officers. Meanwhile, Jefferson (2), Ozaukee (7) and Washington (6) counties have the fewest.
TMJ4 found Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt's agency has the second most names on the list amongst the 10 counties we investigated.
"Do you want them on the Brady list?" TMJ4 asked Schmidt.
"Absolutely not," Schmidt said.
"Do they belong on the Brady list?" TMJ4 asked.
"I think that there is an argument that some of those people don't belong on the Brady list because they've never had the ability to have any due process," Schmidt said.
Schmidt is calling for consistency and standards that apply to every DA in Wisconsin — defining what is and isn't Brady material while guaranteeing an officer's right to appeal.
"Do you think the public deserves to know?" TMJ4 asked Schmidt.
"This is one of those things that I think will do more harm than good by putting all these law enforcement names out there," Schmidt said.
"They have the power to take your rights away, to literally remove your freedom from you," Saffold said.
"If the public demands for me to make it public, it will be made public," Solis said.
You may now be wondering who's Brady flagged in your community. TMJ4 just posted the full database showing all 138 officers based on documentation we received from district attorneys. You'll find their name, agency, employment status at that department, allegation, and the date or year they were Brady ‘flagged’.
What to know about the Brady 'flagged' officers list:
TMJ4’s expanded Duty to Disclose investigation found that only some of the ten counties our Lighthouse team investigated maintain physical Brady lists. In contrast, others track what they call Brady ‘flagged’ officers in individual case files.
TMJ4 learned that underlying allegations can range from allegedly lying about a fake I.D. to criminal offenses.
However, just because an officer is listed in our database does not mean he or she was necessarily charged with a crime or had a substantiated internal violation.
Information on our process for gathering information for all ten counties and what district attorneys provided can be found below this database:
Dodge County Brady List
Dodge County District Attorney Andrea Will provided her office’s Brady list two days after TMJ4’s open records request on Sept. 17, 2025. It contained officers’ names, agencies, and the dates they were added.
TMJ4 followed up to find out the Brady allegation against officers listed.
DA Will provided that information for all but two officers who were placed on the list by a former district attorney 12 years ago. DA Will confirmed on Oct. 6, 2026, that “all of the information that you have listed on the list is correct.”
TMJ4 reached out to individual law enforcement agencies to find out whether Dodge County Brady List officers still work for the same department.
Fond du Lac County Brady ‘Flagged’ Officers
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney fulfilled our records request on August 6, 2026, for Brady ‘flag’ referral letters and emails sent to the DA by law enforcement agencies.
In an interview on Oct. 20, 2026, DA Toney told TMJ4 that he doesn’t need to maintain a physical Brady List because his office uses a computer-based ‘case management system’ that alerts Walworth County prosecutors when a Brady ‘flagged’ officer is involved in a criminal case.
Toney provided a disclaimer with his response to our open records request, saying, “An officer or witness that is flagged does not necessarily mean that there is an honesty issue or concern about their ability to testify but may relate to other matters that require disclosure.
DA Toney verified the names, agencies, and allegations for Brady ‘flagged’ officers in Fond du Lac County following the interview with TMJ4’s Ben Jordan on Oct. 20, 2026.
TMJ4 reached out to individual law enforcement agencies and utilized a Wisconsin Department of Justice database to determine whether Brady List officers in Fond du Lac County still work for the same department.
Jefferson County Brady ‘Flagged’ Officers
Jefferson County District Attorney Monica Hall denied TMJ4’s original records request on August 13, 2026.
“The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office does not keep a ‘list’ or an email folder because that is not what is required for us to be in compliance with that case law,” she wrote in an email to Jordan.
TMJ4 filed a separate open records request for Brady referral notifications sent to Hall’s office by law enforcement agencies. In October 2026, Hall provided the names of two officers who are Brady ‘flagged’ in Jefferson County — along with their former law enforcement agencies, employment statuses at those departments, allegations and the month and year both officers were added.
“In reality, what needs to change is the availability of this information statewide so that flagged officers can’t just change jurisdictions and thwart this important rule of discovery,” Hall wrote to Jordan.
Kenosha County Brady List
Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis fulfilled our initial open records request for his office’s Brady list in just a few hours on Sept. 15, 2025. It included officers’ names and some of their employment statuses.
The Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office provided an updated list on July 1, 2026, showing 11 names were added since Sept. 15, 2025.
District Attorney Solis verified Kenosha County's portion of our database were correct on Nov. 11, 2026.
TMJ4 reached out to individual law enforcement agencies in Kenosha County to find out whether Brady List officers still work for the same department.
Ozaukee County Brady ‘Flagged’ Officers
Ozaukee County District Attorney Benjamin Lindsay originally declined our open records request for his office’s Brady List. In his response, Lindsay wrote, “We have historically had very few officers that would require this designation. Practically speaking, maintaining one master list is not necessary or effective in this county.”
TMJ4 informed Lindsay that the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office released its Brady List in 2024 after consulting with the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Open Records Division.
Lindsay responded, saying, “I’m not sure that I agree with Milwaukee’s perspective that this is subject to open records.”
10 months after our initial request on Sept. 15, 2025, Lindsay provided a list of Brady ‘flagged’ officers on July 16, 2026. It shows the officers, law enforcement agencies, employment status at those agencies, Brady ‘flag’ allegations, and the date they were added.
Lindsay informed Jordan on Oct. 27, 2026, that he had updated the department listed next to one of the officers’ names.
Racine County Brady List
Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson fulfilled our initial request for her office’s Brady list on Sept. 11, 2025. Hanson provided names and the agencies where they are currently or formerly employed.
TMJ4 followed up to request the Brady allegations against each officer. Hanson provided those details via email.
On Oct. 14, 2026, DA Hanson alerted Jordan that she had added two officers to her office’s Brady List. DA Hanson provided specific dates when officers were added to her Brady List on Nov. 10, 2026.
TMJ4 reached out to individual law enforcement agencies and utilized a Wisconsin Department of Justice database to determine whether Brady List officers in Racine County still work for the same department.
Sheboygan County Brady List
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski provided TMJ4 with the names on his Brady list within minutes of our initial open records request on Sept. 15, 2025. It included names and employment statuses.
On June 30, 2026, DA Urmanski informed Jordan that he had added another officer to his office’s Brady List.
By Oct. 2, 2026, Urmanski informed TMJ4 that he had added two officers to his list.
Urmanski confirmed the agencies and employment statuses where those officers are currently or formerly employed.
He also verified the allegation for officers on Oct. 2, 2026.
Urmanski provided years when each officer was added to his office’s Brady List on Nov. 10, 2026.
Walworth County Brady ‘Flagged’ Officers
District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld originally denied TMJ4’s open records request on Sept. 15, 2025, saying his office ‘does not compile or maintain a Brady list’. Instead, he told Jordan that his office maintains records for individual officers who are considered Brady ‘flagged’ in Walworth County.
TMJ4 then filed a separate open records request on the same day fall “letters for current and former officers who have documented instances of dishonesty.”
8 months after our request, the DA provided Brady ‘flag’ referral letters sent to the DA by law enforcement agencies — along with Brady disclosure records Walworth County prosecutors are required to provide defense attorneys in criminal cases.
“These records/letters contain references to potential instances of dishonesty or issues of credibility that my office has received,” DA Wiedenfeld said in an email on June 4, 2026.
Wiedenfeld said his office does not make a determination on whether allegations of dishonesty are founded or unfounded.
“Those determinations, in a ‘Brady’ context, are made by the courts on a case-by-case basis,” DA Wiedenfeld told Jordan.
DA Wiedenfeld confirmed on Oct. 13, 2026, that the information in the Walworth County portion of our database is ‘all consistent with the records we provided’.
TMJ4 reached out to individual law enforcement agencies and utilized a Wisconsin Department of Justice database to determine whether Brady List officers in Walworth County still work for the same department. Two departments have yet to provide that information regarding a total of three officers.
Washington County Brady List
Washington County District Attorney Barry Braatz told TMJ4 on Sept. 24, 2025, that he "received {TMJ4’s} request and will respond as soon as possible."
DA Braatz provided Jordan with a list of Brady officers 8 months later on May 29, 2026. It included the officers’ names, law enforcement agencies, employment status, and allegation.
DA Braatz provided the years when three officers were Brady flagged in Washington County, but he told Jordan on Nov. 11, 2026 he was unable to determine when three others were added because it happened during a previous administration. Braatz confirmed the information in the Washington County portion of our database is accurate as of Nov. 11, 2026.
Waukesha County Brady ‘Flagged’ Officers
Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese provided TMJ4 with Brady ‘flag’ referrals on Oct. 13, 2025. Those documents include Brady ‘flag’ referrals from law enforcement agencies — or Brady disclosure material that’s provided to defense attorneys in criminal cases.
A spokesperson for the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office verified that the names and agencies listed in the Waukesha County portion of TMJ4’s database were ‘still accurate and up to date’ as of Oct. 20, 2026. However, the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office told TMJ4 in the same email, saying, “Unfortunately, DA Boese does not have the time to go through each packet to narrow down the basis for the Brady determination.”
TMJ4 found the allegations of untruthfulness against each officer in the documents provided by the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office.
Those documents also show the date each Brady referral letter was sent by law enforcement agencies with the exception of one. The DA’s office says their copy of that document for one officer in particular does not include a date. Therefore, TMJ4’s database states ‘Unknown by DA’ for the date that officer was ‘flagged’.
TMJ4 reached out to individual law enforcement agencies and utilized a Wisconsin Department of Justice database to determine whether Brady ‘flagged’ officers in Waukesha County still work for the same department.
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