MONROE - David Deininger, Monroe, resigned from the Government Accountability Board (GAB) Tuesday.
Deininger and James Mohr, members of a newly-created state board charged with rooting out government corruption, resigned following an attorney general's opinion that said they were serving unlawfully.
All six members of the Government Accountability Board are retired judges. The state constitution forbids a judge from holding another office during the term for which they were elected.
Deininger and Mohr retired before their terms as judges were over.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a legal opinion released Tuesday that the law does not allow them to serve on the board because their six-year terms in office as judges were not over.
Deininger, the chairman of the board, and Mohr sent letters to Gov. Jim Doyle resigning immediately.
"We have chosen to resign to protect the integrity of this board and the legitimacy of its future decisions," Deininger said in a statement released by the board.
Deininger said this morning the provision in the state constitution hadn't been applied to appointed offices and he didn't think of himself as still a judge when he accepted the appointment to the board.
Deininger retired from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in January 2007. Deininger's GAB term would have expired on May 1, 2009.
Deininger said he understands why judges are not able to run for elective office while they serve as judges. He said the constitution wants to prevent judges from making rulings that could help them politically and there could be conflicts of interest if they are candidates for elective office as well as a sitting judge.
However, the constitution doesn't prevent a sitting judge from running for a judicial office. Deininger said both he and other members of the Government Accountability Board considered the ethics committee to be a judicial office since all of its members are former judges.
Losing the two members will slow down the board's work but would not weaken its mission, GAB legal counsel Kevin Kennedy said. The board started meeting in August but didn't take over for the former Ethics and Elections boards until January.
"It delays. I really don't think it weakens anything," Kennedy said. "The board didn't want there to be any cloud over its head."
A special committee will convene as soon as possible to recommend replacements to Doyle, who will make the selections which must be approved by the state Senate. The board's next meeting is May 5.
Even though two of the board members should not have been appointed, none of the board's work to date is invalid because of that, Van Hollen said.
The panel has spent much of its time reviewing actions by the two boards it replaced. At its past two meetings, Deininger has led an effort to consider regulating issue ads paid for by third-party groups.
Kennedy said action on that issue will likely be delayed until the replacements are named.
"The sense would be that you would want to speak with six voices on something as important as that," he said.
It would take a unanimous vote by the four remaining members to do anything.
The board was created by the Legislature last year to investigate corruption and enforce laws involving campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying.
Deininger and James Mohr, members of a newly-created state board charged with rooting out government corruption, resigned following an attorney general's opinion that said they were serving unlawfully.
All six members of the Government Accountability Board are retired judges. The state constitution forbids a judge from holding another office during the term for which they were elected.
Deininger and Mohr retired before their terms as judges were over.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a legal opinion released Tuesday that the law does not allow them to serve on the board because their six-year terms in office as judges were not over.
Deininger, the chairman of the board, and Mohr sent letters to Gov. Jim Doyle resigning immediately.
"We have chosen to resign to protect the integrity of this board and the legitimacy of its future decisions," Deininger said in a statement released by the board.
Deininger said this morning the provision in the state constitution hadn't been applied to appointed offices and he didn't think of himself as still a judge when he accepted the appointment to the board.
Deininger retired from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in January 2007. Deininger's GAB term would have expired on May 1, 2009.
Deininger said he understands why judges are not able to run for elective office while they serve as judges. He said the constitution wants to prevent judges from making rulings that could help them politically and there could be conflicts of interest if they are candidates for elective office as well as a sitting judge.
However, the constitution doesn't prevent a sitting judge from running for a judicial office. Deininger said both he and other members of the Government Accountability Board considered the ethics committee to be a judicial office since all of its members are former judges.
Losing the two members will slow down the board's work but would not weaken its mission, GAB legal counsel Kevin Kennedy said. The board started meeting in August but didn't take over for the former Ethics and Elections boards until January.
"It delays. I really don't think it weakens anything," Kennedy said. "The board didn't want there to be any cloud over its head."
A special committee will convene as soon as possible to recommend replacements to Doyle, who will make the selections which must be approved by the state Senate. The board's next meeting is May 5.
Even though two of the board members should not have been appointed, none of the board's work to date is invalid because of that, Van Hollen said.
The panel has spent much of its time reviewing actions by the two boards it replaced. At its past two meetings, Deininger has led an effort to consider regulating issue ads paid for by third-party groups.
Kennedy said action on that issue will likely be delayed until the replacements are named.
"The sense would be that you would want to speak with six voices on something as important as that," he said.
It would take a unanimous vote by the four remaining members to do anything.
The board was created by the Legislature last year to investigate corruption and enforce laws involving campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying.