Walker Passed Over 13 Applicants To Appoint Schimel As Judge

Gov. Scott Walker passed over 13 other applicants to appoint outgoing Attorney General Brad Schimel to a Waukesha County judgeship.

Walker gave Schimel the job a day after Schimel conceded defeat in the Nov. 6 election. Application documents the Walker administration supplied to The Associated Press in response to an open records request show 13 other people applied for the position.

The finalists included state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Chief Counsel Paul Dedinsky; Assistant Attorneys General David Maas and Katherine Spitz; state Department of Administration Gaming Division Administrator Jack Melvin; and Waukesha County Court Commissioner Sara Scullen.

The records didn’t include Schimel’s application documents. Walker’s assistant legal counsel, Nick Korger, didn’t immediately reply to an email Monday inquiring about why Schimel’s materials were not included.

Schimel recommended four other applicants for the judgeship position, according to the records. The four candidates that included letters of recommendation from Schimel with their applications, include Maas, Melvin, who states in his application he worked for Schimel’s campaign; Matthew Fernholz, who clerked for former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman; and private attorney Sarah Ponath.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:19 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, to include information on Brad Schimel’s recommendations.