Tony Evers open to giving victims 'a voice at the table' with Wisconsin's parole system

Evers is in a tight gubernatorial race with Republican business owner Tim Michels, who has taken aim at the Democratic governor as being soft on crime and sent a letter to Evers last month demanding he suspend all prison releases — a move that is outside the governor’s power.

Michels, the co-owner of Brownsville-based Michels Corp., made the demand after conservative website Wisconsin Right Now reported a series of stories on paroles, including for men who violently murdered women. In some instances, families of the victims were not notified of the paroles, according to the outlet.

“I believe if we make sure that victims are heard, that is probably the most important thing that we can do,” Evers said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board Wednesday. “I think we’ve got the right system, we just need it to work appropriately.”

The governor appoints the Wisconsin Parole Commission’s chairperson, but the agency operates independently and some paroles are mandated by law. The commission is also required to parole felons who have completed certain release programs.

Parole allows an individual in prison to be released before their sentence is complete. For individuals sentenced to life in prison, discretionary paroles are only available to those who committed the crime before Dec. 31, 1999. Wisconsin’s truth-in-sentencing law ended discretionary parole for offenders who committed a crime after the start of 2000.

Since Evers took office, the commission has granted about 460 discretionary paroles not required by law. Former Gov. Scott Walker granted more than 650 discretionary paroles in his two terms and former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who has endorsed Michels, granted more than 23,000 discretionary paroles in his 14 years as governor.

Even so, the topic of parole has become a reoccurring source of GOP criticism for Evers leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

In his Sept. 19 letter, Michels accused Evers of sympathizing and coddling “brutal, convicted criminals.” He also called on Evers to suspend the actions of the four-member parole commission and the Pardon Advisory Board. Michels said at a news conference last month the number of paroles he’d seek as governor would be more than zero but less than the number granted under Evers.

"The fact that Tony Evers is pretending to care about victims now is a disgusting attempt to save face as people are horrified by his outspoken disregard for victims' families and public safety as a whole," Michels spokesperson Anna Kelly said Thursday.

Paroles and pardons

Unlike paroles, pardons can be granted to individuals convicted of a felony at least five years after completing their sentences. In order to be pardoned, an individual also must have no pending charges and cannot be on the sex offender registry. Pardons don’t remove a conviction, but do restore certain rights, such as being able to own a firearm.

Evers has issued more pardons than any governor in recent state history, though the majority of the more than 600 pardons he’s granted have been to individuals convicted of lower-level, nonviolent crimes.

While Evers could withdraw his appointment of the parole commission’s chair, Christopher Blythe, as Michels’ aides have suggested, state law requires the commission to continue considering paroles.

Wisconsin Right Now last month sued the Wisconsin Parole Commission, alleging the agency has refused to comply with open records requests filed with the commission earlier this year. A reporter with the outlet in May requested lists of all offenders who have been granted parole, release or early release since 2019, when Evers appointed John Tate as chair of the commission.

On Thursday, Washington County Judge Michael Kenitz signed an alternative writ ordering the commission to release the records sought by Wisconsin Right Now.

Tate resignation

At Evers’ request, Tate resigned in June amid mounting backlash over the commission’s initial plans to parole Douglas Balsewicz, who served less than 25 years of an 80-year sentence for stabbing his wife, Johanna Balsewicz, to death.

After meeting with Johanna Balsewicz’s family in the state Capitol in May, Evers sent a letter to Tate asking him to reconsider the convicted murderer’s parole. Evers lacks the power to rescind a convict’s parole on his own.

Tate had initially said it was extremely unlikely Balsewicz’s parole would be revoked unless he did something to warrant it. Tate, who is president of the Racine City Council, said doing so would likely lead to a lawsuit that the state would lose.

However, Tate later said he understood the governor’s concerns about the lack of victim input and rescinded Balsewicz’s parole. Despite his change of course, some Republicans called on Evers to remove Tate from office, which he ultimately did. Tate announced his resignation June 10.

“One of the things we have to address is the issue of people that were impacted by the crime and that should have happened in that case and that’s why I asked him to resign,” Evers said of his request to Tate following Balsewicz’s parole.

“The folks who are the victims of the crime have to have a voice at the table and in this case that didn’t happen,” he added. “Maybe we can tighten that up a little bit, but at the end of the day I believe the system has and does work.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.