MONROE - The former Monroe High School athletic director made his first appearance Wednesday in Green County Circuit Court on felony charges that he embezzled money from ticket sales at school sporting events.
Dave Hirsbrunner, now living in Waunakee, faces a charge of theft and three counts of fraud-related misconduct, all Class I felonies. The criminal complaint, filed in June, alleges he stole $2,950 from the school district between Dec. 1, 2014 and Oct. 15, 2015.
It also alleges that, in his capacity as a public employee, he falsified entries into the reports of gate receipts for Monroe High School athletic events on Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 18, 2015.
No one from Green County is working on the case.
A detective with the Stoughton Police Department investigated it, at the request of Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley.
Iowa County District Attorney Larry E. Nelson is the prosecutor.
Both Green County Circuit Court judges, James Beer and Thomas Vale, have recused themselves from the case "as they know the defendant personally," according to a motion filed with the court.
The case is being heard by James P. Daley, a Rock County judge and chief judge of Wisconsin's 5th Judicial District (and former Wisconsin Supreme Court nominee who lost to incumbent Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in 2015).
Representing Hirsbrunner is defense attorney Jonas B. Bednarek, of Hurley, Burish & Stanton S.C. in Madison.
Hirsbrunner signed a $2,000 signature bond at his brief appearance Wednesday. Bednarek declined to answer questions afterward.
The next activity on the case is a telephone scheduling conference Nov. 1.
A 20-year employee of the district, Hirsbrunner was put on paid administrative leave in November 2015. By the end of that month, with no public explanation from the district, Hirsbrunner resigned, paying the district $6,390 in a separation agreement.
A criminal investigation into Hirsbrunner began in July 2016, according to court records.
Ron Olson, the district's business administrator, told the detective two teachers had come to him with concerns about Hirsbrunner's money-handling practices.
The teachers, Kristin L. Bansley and Sherri M. Hendrickson, worked the gates at sporting events and noticed a consistent pattern of money missing from the collection box. Hendrickson said she first suspected in 2013 that Hirsbrunner was taking money.
Money taken from the gate at sporting events was "consistently short $100 to $400," the detective found.
Denise M. Plantenberg, accounting secretary for Monroe High School, said when she questioned Hirsbrunner about the discrepancies, "he would get 'irritated' and make her feel like she was wasting his time," the detective's report states.
Hirsbrunner "always blamed her or the ticketsellers for the 'mixups,'" Plantenberg told the detective. She said she feared for her job, particularly since Hirsbrunner's wife, Cory Hirsbrunner, was the district superintendent.
Cory Hirsbrunner left the district when her contract expired in June. She recently began a two-year contract with an annual salary of $112,000 as director of elementary education at the Stevens Point Area Public School District, according to the Portage County Gazette.
Dave Hirsbrunner, now living in Waunakee, faces a charge of theft and three counts of fraud-related misconduct, all Class I felonies. The criminal complaint, filed in June, alleges he stole $2,950 from the school district between Dec. 1, 2014 and Oct. 15, 2015.
It also alleges that, in his capacity as a public employee, he falsified entries into the reports of gate receipts for Monroe High School athletic events on Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 18, 2015.
No one from Green County is working on the case.
A detective with the Stoughton Police Department investigated it, at the request of Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley.
Iowa County District Attorney Larry E. Nelson is the prosecutor.
Both Green County Circuit Court judges, James Beer and Thomas Vale, have recused themselves from the case "as they know the defendant personally," according to a motion filed with the court.
The case is being heard by James P. Daley, a Rock County judge and chief judge of Wisconsin's 5th Judicial District (and former Wisconsin Supreme Court nominee who lost to incumbent Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in 2015).
Representing Hirsbrunner is defense attorney Jonas B. Bednarek, of Hurley, Burish & Stanton S.C. in Madison.
Hirsbrunner signed a $2,000 signature bond at his brief appearance Wednesday. Bednarek declined to answer questions afterward.
The next activity on the case is a telephone scheduling conference Nov. 1.
A 20-year employee of the district, Hirsbrunner was put on paid administrative leave in November 2015. By the end of that month, with no public explanation from the district, Hirsbrunner resigned, paying the district $6,390 in a separation agreement.
A criminal investigation into Hirsbrunner began in July 2016, according to court records.
Ron Olson, the district's business administrator, told the detective two teachers had come to him with concerns about Hirsbrunner's money-handling practices.
The teachers, Kristin L. Bansley and Sherri M. Hendrickson, worked the gates at sporting events and noticed a consistent pattern of money missing from the collection box. Hendrickson said she first suspected in 2013 that Hirsbrunner was taking money.
Money taken from the gate at sporting events was "consistently short $100 to $400," the detective found.
Denise M. Plantenberg, accounting secretary for Monroe High School, said when she questioned Hirsbrunner about the discrepancies, "he would get 'irritated' and make her feel like she was wasting his time," the detective's report states.
Hirsbrunner "always blamed her or the ticketsellers for the 'mixups,'" Plantenberg told the detective. She said she feared for her job, particularly since Hirsbrunner's wife, Cory Hirsbrunner, was the district superintendent.
Cory Hirsbrunner left the district when her contract expired in June. She recently began a two-year contract with an annual salary of $112,000 as director of elementary education at the Stevens Point Area Public School District, according to the Portage County Gazette.