Kenosha County committee approves lease with state for Burlington Road home, adds monitoring-notification requirement

Kenosha County’s Public Works Committee on Monday approved a one-year lease with the State of Wisconsin for the county-owned residence at 11312 Burlington Road to house participants in the state’s supervised-release program, and added a requirement that the county and sheriff be notified within 24 hours if electronic monitoring of residents fails.

The lease sets rent at $3,500 per month, to be paid by the state; tenants are responsible for utilities and renters insurance, and the county will act as landlord. Committee members debated additional reporting and oversight measures before voting to adopt the lease with the monitoring-notification amendment and to reject a separate proposal to require quarterly census reports of occupants.

Facilities staff told the committee the lease is a standard, one-year agreement and that the county would perform basic landlord functions, including regular checks of the home. "It's a standard lease in the amount of $3,500 per month," said facilities staff during the presentation. County staff said some appliances already existed in the house, the county purchased one refrigerator, and recent replacements include a new furnace, air-conditioning unit and water heater.

The committee’s discussion focused on oversight and safety. Committee members asked whether the county would be informed when the state places or replaces individuals at the property, and whether the county had authority to limit the number or type of residents. County staff and corporation counsel said placement is driven by state and court processes; the circuit court issues orders for placement after the state approves a residence and files a plan with the court. "The court makes the order," said corporation counsel Joe, describing the sequence by which the state identifies and the court approves placements. Joe also noted that lifetime GPS monitoring for these residents is required by statute and that residents are under continuous electronic tracking as part of the program: "They are under 24/7 monitoring," he said.

Supervisors confirmed the property will be used only for the DHS supervised-release program named in the lease and that the house’s three bedrooms meant a practical occupancy cap of three residents at a time. Committee members repeatedly noted the state will pay for chaperones required during the initial year of placement and that those chaperones are not a county expense.

A proposed amendment that would have required the landlord to provide a detailed census of each person living at 11312 Burlington Road to the Public Works Committee on a quarterly basis was introduced and seconded, and received extended debate. County staff and some supervisors said the information is already routed through the county’s 980/placement committee and environmental health channels; others argued that codifying quarterly reporting in the lease would provide an extra layer of accountability. That amendment failed on a committee vote.

The committee approved a separate amendment requiring that the Public Works Committee and the sheriff’s department be notified within 24 hours of any failure or interruption in electronic monitoring at the residence; that amendment passed on roll call. After completing debate on amendments, the committee voted unanimously to approve the lease resolution as amended.

Under the lease language discussed at the meeting: the state is the tenant, tenants are responsible for utilities and trash, the county will perform landlord inspections, and the lease term is one year (renewal requires written agreement). County staff said snow removal and grounds care for the property were addressed through the treatment program’s responsibilities in practice, and that the state generally covers program-related supports. Staff also said the state had requested limited use of the garage; facilities advised the request was precautionary rather than operational for day-to-day use.

Next steps noted at the meeting: the lease will proceed to subsequent county approvals (finance committee and full county board as required by county procedure), and county staff indicated they would notify the state promptly if the committee’s adopted amendment language required state review before final signature. Staff also said they would inform the Public Works Committee and the board if the state raised an objection to the adopted amendment.

Votes at a glance - Amendment — quarterly census reporting by landlord: proposed and seconded; debated; failed (committee vote; names not specified in transcript roll call). - Amendment — notification to Public Works Committee and Kenosha County Sheriff within 24 hours of any failure in electronic monitoring: adopted on roll-call vote (details recorded at meeting). - Resolution — approve lease of 11312 Burlington Road to the State of Wisconsin for use by DHS supervised-release program at $3,500/month: approved unanimously.

Why this matters: The lease places state-supervised residents in a county-owned home and formalizes the state as tenant; for neighbors and county officials the primary public concerns are how the county will be informed about changes in occupancy and how the county will be notified about failures in the electronic monitoring systems that are central to the program’s supervision and public-safety mitigation strategy.

Committee members and staff said they expect further administrative steps — including review by finance and final board action — and said they would seek timely communication from the state and the courts about placement timing so the county can manage on-site preparations and landlord responsibilities.