The judge lives where?
Circuit Judge Paul Dedinsky has claimed different residencies depending on circumstances.
Where in the world is Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Paul Dedinsky’s real residence?
It’s hard to tell.
Dedinsky claimed one residence — with his wife and kids in Waukesha County — when applying for one judgeship late last year. But then the 52-yearold lawyer turned around and gave another — his parents’ house in Milwaukee County — when applying for another judicial post a month later.
This is how confusing the situation is: Dedinsky gave his Waukesha County residence when filing his income tax returns earlier this year but is using his parents’ place to vote in Milwaukee County.
In an interview, Milwaukee County’s new judge said he was not trying to pull a fast one on the voters. He will be on the ballot next spring; he currently has no opponents.
Dedinsky, who was a Milwaukee County prosecutor for 20 years, said he is making a sacrifice to his wife and children by staying full time at his parents’ home in Whitefish Bay — which he grew up in — to establish residency in Milwaukee County.
“I live here every single day,” Dedinsky said.
That’s not everyone’s impression. Amanda Krug, Dedinsky’s next-door neighbor in Whitefish Bay, said she has seen more of the judge in recent days. Before that, she said, his attendance was spotty.
“A third of the time — or less,” Krug said when asked how often Dedinsky stays at his parents’ place. She jokingly noted that she lives at her address 100% of the time.
Another neighbor, who asked not to be named, told the Journal Sentinel the Whitefish Bay house sits mostly vacant. The neighbor said he sometimes sees an older couple at the residence but not the judge. Dedinsky’s parents have a second house in Arizona.
“Hardly ever see anyone there,” the neighbor said, “and no wife and kids.”
Dedinsky’s appointment came in a flurry of activity at the end of the term for Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who lost the November election to Tony Evers, a Democrat.
Shortly before the election, Walker announced that there was one judgeship open in Waukesha County and two in Milwaukee County.
Dedinsky put his name in for the Waukesha vacancy.
In his application, Dedinsky said he was a longtime Waukesha County resident who lives in a house — valued at $850,000 — in Delafield with his wife and children. Judges have to be eligible to vote in the jurisdiction for which they are selected “at the time of election or appointment,” according to the state constitution.
In his application, he played up his ability to get elected in Waukesha County, pointing to his family’s deep roots there. He noted that his wife grew up in Brookfield and that he had a private practice there in the 1990s.
“For the past 22 years, we have resided in Waukesha County, raised our children in Waukesha County, attended
church in Waukesha County, and been vital members of our community,” Dedinsky wrote in his application.
Dedinsky ticked off his conservative credentials in the application. He said he was an originalist and strict constructionist when interpreting the Constitution and noted that he and his wife were Republican Party volunteers in Waukesha County beginning in August 2018.
The pair had donated $250 to Walker’s campaign a year earlier, five months after Dedinsky joined the Walker administration as chief legal counsel at the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection. He previously gave $425 to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in his unsuccessful gubernatorial bid way back in 2002.
“Be assured that (if elected) I will be ever mindful of the fact that I represent not just myself and my family, but the governor of the state of Wisconsin,” Dedinsky wrote. “Each time I interact with others on a personal or professional level, I will be doing so as Governor Walker’s appointee.” Dedinsky didn’t get the job. Walker chose former Attorney General Brad Schimel, another Republican who also lost in November.
Then Dedinsky said he wanted to seek one of the openings on the Milwaukee County bench, even though the deadline had already passed for both.
According to a heavily redacted email from Nov. 24, 2018, the former prosecutor said he would make Whitefish Bay his residence. His parents bought the house in 1962.
So much for the deep roots in Waukesha County.
“This coming February, my dad (redacted) and my mom (redacted),” says the email. “They would love for me to be in Whitefish Bay, close by them.”
Dedinsky confirmed to the Journal Sentinel that he told Walker officials that his address would be at his parents’ Whitefish Bay home if appointed.
A month later, on Dec. 26, 2018, Walker named Dedinsky to the Milwaukee County bench.
Dedinsky now says that he wants to sell his house in Delafield, but doesn’t have a date for when it will go on the market. He said that a family medical issue, which he asked not be made public, is preventing him and his wife from selling the house immediately.
As of April, Dedinsky votes in Milwaukee County while his wife still does so in Waukesha County, according to state voting records.
It would be difficult to show that Dedinsky was voting improperly in Whitefish Bay, even though the only home he owns is 32 miles away.
Reid Magney, spokesman for the state Election Commission, said it is not always easy to determine somebody’s residency. To vote in Milwaukee County, Dedinsky would need only a paycheck or utility bill with the Whitefish Bay address on it, along with photo ID.
“The Wisconsin Elections Commission does not determine whether candidates or officials are qualified to take or hold office,” Magney said via email. “That’s the responsibility of the governing body or agency.”
These complications aren’t mentioned on Dedinsky’s campaign website. There’s no indication that Walker appointed him or that he and his wife were GOP volunteers last year, things that would hurt him in heavily Democratic Milwaukee County. He doesn’t describe himself as an originalist or strict constructionist.
You will, instead, find out all about his interest in restorative justice and Milwaukee County schools.
The website highlights his family but makes no mention of where they live.
Instead of focusing on those things, Dedinsky asked that the Journal Sentinel do a story on how hard he works in his job in Milwaukee County Children’s Court. Or write up his longstanding ties to Milwaukee County.
“For 50 of my 52 years, I’ve been closely associated with Milwaukee County,” Dedinsky said.
And, thanks to his parents, he can even claim to live there, too.
“The Wisconsin Elections Commission does not determine whether candidates ... are qualified to take or hold office.” Reid Magney State Election Commission spokesman