Madison Alder Myadze booked into Dane County jail

A recently-censured Madison alder is in custody at Dane County jail pending criminal charges.

Dane County jail records show Charles Myadze was booked at the jail Thursday afternoon. The recommended charges include battery with substantial bodily harm, false imprisonment, four counts of strangulation and three burglary charges.

“When an individual came forward with allegations of domestic abuse, MPD commenced an investigation,” a Madison police spokesperson Stephanie Fyer  wrote in an email Friday.

That investigation led Madison police to establish probable cause before arresting Myadze Thursday, Fryer said.

The Dane County District Attorney’s office is expected to file charges against Myadze on Monday, according to Fryer. 

Myadze could not immediately be reached for comment.

The north side representative has faced escalating calls for his resignation since this spring, after two former partners accused him publicly of domestic abuse over a span of time from the 1990s to the early 2010s. And, last month, another woman came forward publicly to allege Myadze was physically violent during a relationship that lasted from 2018 to 2021.

Earlier this week, Madison’s Common Council voted 13-2 to censure Myadze.

That resolution did not remove Myadze from the council, but serves as a symbolic rebuke for conduct described as “unbecoming of an alder.”

Specifically, the resolution cited the results of investigation released last month after three separate women accused Myadze of workplace-related sexual harassment. Madison hired an outside law firm to conduct the inquiry.

The results of that investigation described Myadze’s actions as “troubling,” but concluded his conduct toward the three women had not violated city policy nor state or federal laws.

Although the censure resolution noted that Myadze’s behavior did not meet the “legal threshold” for creating a hostile work environment, the resolution said his conduct was “deeply concerning and inconsistent with the standards expected of public officials.”

During a Common Council meeting this week, Myadze said the city’s external investigation had cleared him of harassment allegations, and called his censure a “dangerous” precedent.

“The experience I have (had) has been incredibly painful,” Myadze said Tuesday. “Being publicly accused of things I did not do has been humiliating, demoralizing.”

Myadze was first elected to a nonpartisan role on the Common Council in 2021. He’s currently serving a two-year term that ends in April 2025.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway was a co-sponsor of the resolution censuring Myadze. And, effective earlier this week, the mayor removed Myadze from serving on legislative committees.

In a statement following Myadze’s arrest, the mayor’s office referred questions about the ongoing legal matter to the Dane County District Attorney’s office.

“We would like to remind the public that due process is an important part of the justice system and to respect the privacy of victims,” the statement from the mayor’s office said.

In a statement last month, the mayor did not list Myadze by name but said “No one who harasses or abuses women should be in a leadership position at any level of government.”

Reached by phone on Friday, Madison Common Council President Yannette Figueroa Cole declined to comment on Myadze’s arrest, saying it’s important to respect the ongoing criminal investigation.

She said she continues to believe that Myadze should step down from the council.

“I personally asked him to resign back in April,” she said Friday. “So my position stands on that.”

In the early 2000s, Myadze was arrested on domestic violence-related charges involving his then-wife. He ended up pleading guilty to a count of false imprisonment, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement which ultimately allowed all of those charges to be expunged.