This is a developing story…Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt held a press conference at 1pm Wednesday afternoon.
Former Waupun prison warden Randall Hepp, who resigned yesterday, and eight staff members have been charged following probes into inmate deaths at the Waupun Correctional Institution.
Numerous hourly rounds conducted and skipped by staff with no medical attention provided to a non-responsive inmate. Evidence shows decedent was dead in his cell for more than 12 hours.
Another inmate who died of starvation and dehydration determined to have died hours before he was found. Was denied meals nine of 12 meals before his death and failed to conduct checks. Was in camera equipped cell, but was not monitored.
Two other recent inmate deaths determined to not be the result of staff actions/inactions.
The current Secretary of the Department of Corrections under Governor Tony Evers issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
The department has been in regular communication and collaboration with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office throughout this process. We have cooperated fully with Dodge County’s investigation, and we will continue to do so as we also continue to fully cooperate with the ongoing federal law enforcement investigation initiated at our request in June 2023 into potential criminal activities occurring at WCI.
Maintaining the safety of people in our care and staff, as well as local communities, continues to be the DOC’s top priority. Ensuring accountability for every individual who fails to uphold the DOC’s high standards of conduct is a critical part of safety and security both within our institutions and beyond them, and we appreciate the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office’s efforts toward this important goal.
However, it is in service of the Department of Corrections’ goals of transparency and accountability that we are requesting that the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office not conclude their investigation at this time. We are specifically requesting that the Dodge County Sheriff ’s Office leave its investigation open as the department’s own internal investigation remains ongoing. We are further requesting additional conversations with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office to discuss additional individuals who may be relevant to their investigation.
We have worked closely with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office throughout this process and we will continue to do so until this work has been thoroughly completed.
As a result of the DOC’s internal investigations at WCI that initially began in March 2023, over 20 individuals remain under internal investigation. An additional nine individuals, against whom criminal charges have not been filed at this time, are no longer employed at the department. An additional at least eight individuals at WCI remain on administrative leave based on DOC’s internal investigations, and we anticipate additional individuals will be placed on administrative leave, may be terminated, and potentially referred for criminal charges pending the conclusion of DOC’s internal or other law enforcement investigations, which remain ongoing.
As with any death of any individual in our care, immediate internal investigations were initiated, and local law enforcement authorities were notified to be able to conduct their own additional investigation. On June 3, 2024, the department was first made aware of forthcoming criminal charges against several individuals being referred and charged in Dodge County. The department has not yet received the final Dodge County medical examiner’s reports on the cause of death for Cameron Williams or Donald Maier, or the investigative report from the Dodge County’s Sheriff’s Office at this point.
At this time, all nine of these individuals against whom criminal charges have now been filed are either no longer employed at the department or are on unpaid administrative leave. Prior to these charges, warden excluded, all of these individuals were either under ongoing DOC internal investigation or had been placed on administrative leave or terminated based upon DOC’s internal investigations.
Based upon the allegations against these nine individuals, neither the department nor the state will be providing legal representation for these individuals in these criminal proceedings.
As internal and law enforcement agency investigations remain ongoing for which additional charges may be filed, we cannot comment further as to ongoing investigations or specific individuals’ statuses at this time as we continue to fully cooperate with local and federal law enforcement agencies as we have from the beginning of these processes.
Additional information regarding the current status of staffing, modified movement, or other efforts at may be found here.
Governor Evers, who has resisted calls for construction of more modern, safer prisons in Wisconsin, responded to the investigations and arrests with a written statement this afternoon.
“I appreciate the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office for their work in this investigation. Last June, the Department of Corrections and I asked federal law enforcement agencies to help investigate criminal activity at Waupun, and that investigation remains ongoing. It has been my expectation from the beginning that the DOC and its staff would fully comply with law enforcement and internal investigations, and that continues to be my expectation.
“Each and every person who’s failed to do their job to the high level that we expect or treat people in our care with the dignity, humanity, and respect they deserve should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law—it’s that simple. There must be accountability and justice. And I believe accountability and justice insist that both internal and law enforcement investigations must continue until they have been exhaustively and thoroughly completed.
“Today, I am directing the DOC to continue their ongoing, internal investigations through to completion, notwithstanding the Dodge County Sheriff indicating his investigation is completed based on charges filed in Dodge County today. I am further directing the department to provide the results of its investigations to the Dodge County Sherriff’s Office for further investigation and potential charges, as is appropriate.
“I am also directing the department to release the results of their internal investigations in a report that shall be released publicly, and in its entirety, to the fullest extent state and federal laws allow, and at such time it will not impede upon or jeopardize any ongoing law enforcement investigations.
“We have an obligation to make sure that people in our care, officers and staff, and our communities are safe. And the criminal justice system must hold every wrongdoer to account.”
