Brown County hires outside counsel to take over tax-sale work, sets early-June target for auction

The Brown County Board of Commissioners voted to engage outside counsel to take over a tax-foreclosure case the county prosecutor is withdrawing from, commissioners said during a March meeting.

The board invited attorneys Michelle Bridal and Chris McElgin to explain the logistics of substituting counsel and completing a pending tax sale that, they said, already has a journal entry of judgment. Bridal told commissioners the change can be done quickly: "We file an entry of appearance on behalf of our firm, and we're ready to go," she said, noting the judge had signed a journal entry of judgment on March 4.

Bridal outlined the next steps: the firm would file an order of sale and a notice of sale, prepare bidder instructions (the firms’ standard “rules of sale”), and arrange publication in the county newspaper for three consecutive weeks. "That document ... has to run for one day a week for three consecutive weeks, and then we cannot have the sale any sooner than 30 days after the first publication runs," Bridal said. Based on that calendar and logistical coordination, commissioners and counsel discussed a practical target of early June for conducting the auction.

Counsel also addressed the county’s prior practice asking purchasers to pay three years of back taxes before sale. "We don't ask for that 3 years," Bridal said. "The statute doesn't require that we do that ... We sell it to the highest bidder cash in hand at sale." She added the firm's approach aims to move properties off the delinquent tax rolls into the hands of bidders able to maintain them.

Commissioners discussed fees and accounting. Bridal said, because the firm is stepping in after judgment, it would likely bill on an hourly basis and then take its costs from sale proceeds rather than charging a flat per-parcel fee. She estimated a low-end execution cost in the neighborhood of $10,000, with a range that could rise depending on post-sale work and accounting.

Commissioners asked the firm to send its standard bidder rules and other documents to county staff; Bridal said she would do so. The board voted to engage outside counsel (motion by the chair, seconded) and approved the firm moving forward to file substitution paperwork and the order of sale.

What happens next: the attorneys will file an entry of appearance, prepare an order of sale and notice, coordinate publication dates with the county newspaper and the county treasurer’s office, and begin the required posting and registration process that will open the statutory 30‑day window to a prospective sale.