Wisconsin’s Attorney General is pleased by news that Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz plans to resign. However, J.B. Van Hollen says his office will continue to investigate misconduct allegations.
Kratz’s attorney says the embattled DA will step down by October 8th, rather than force the state to continue efforts to remove him from office. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says it’s a good idea to save the taxpayers money, but it would also be in the best interest of the victims.
Kratz has been under fire since it was discovered he sent sexually themed text messages to a domestic abuse victim. Since then, several other women came forward making similar claims.
Van Hollen says resigning won’t end a Department of Justice investigation into possible criminal activity. He says there’s an obligation to make sure the recent complaints involved any criminal misconduct by Kratz.
Van Hollen has drawn fire as well, after his office initially concluded Kratz’s text messages didn’t amount to criminal wrongdoing and forwarded the matter on to the Office of Lawyer Regulation. The board dismissed the complaint, but recently re-opened its investigation as well based on new evidence.
For now, Van Hollen and a spokesman for Governor Jim Doyle say the removal proceedings will continue until Kratz submits an actual letter of resignation.