After five years, sheriff wants Bowers back at work

A sheriff’s deputy who has been on paid leave for more than five years is being called back to active duty despite a pending state criminal case.

Taylor County Sheriff Larry Woebbeking has announced plans to call Deputy Steve Bowers back to active duty to fill a currently vacant patrol officer position with the sheriff’s department.

For Woebbeking, the move is about being a good steward of taxpayer resources. He noted that the county has been paying Bowers to do nothing for 5 years and that with an opening for a patrol deputy it makes sense to bring him back to work.

Bowers would return to work at the department with the accrued seniority, rank and pay grade including the years he has been on paid leave.

Woebbeking said that as sheriff he has to look at what is the right thing to do for the community and said he felt this was the right move to make. Woebbeking explained he had already spoken with the state about what would be needed to bring Bowers back into active duty and was told he would need about 400 hours of in-house training. Woebbeking said they would work with Bowers to get the training completed and have him back serving the county.

“If I didn’t think he was capable of doing the job and doing it well, I wouldn’t bring him back,” Woebbeking said.

He noted that Bowers’ attorney had contacted him after learning about the plan to call Bowers back into service and said he assured him that there was no intention to make anything awkward within the department for Bowers.

For Woebbeking it comes down to the county having a need and having someone on payroll who is able to do the job.

“I have nothing personal against Steve,” Woebbeking said.

Bowers was placed on paid administrative leave in February 2017 over the unauthorized release of unsolved case file information to a producer of a true-crime television program. At the time, Bowers was serving as a detective on the department and Bruce Daniels was sheriff.

In October 2017, the Wisconsin Department of Justice filed felony misconduct in office charges against Bowers. In November of that year, the Taylor County personnel committee took action with a suspension and reduction in rank to patrol officer.

The criminal charges against Bowers have dragged on over the ensuing years with changes in judges, arguments and appeals over the admissibility of computer file evidence accessed with a warrantless search of an online file storage account maintained by Bowers. A trial in the case has been delayed multiple times over these issues and others with no resolution expected any time soon. Decisions in the case are being made by the attorney general’s office with no input from local law enforcement.

Woebbeking estimated that with salary and benefits, it is costing taxpayers about $100,000 per year to keep Bowers at home. Woebbeking said he has spoken with the county’s labor attorney who had no problem with him calling Bowers back into active service.

“Steve is qualified,” Woebbeking said, noting that in his mind the county imposed appropriate internal punishment back in 2017 and said that as far as the felony criminal charges filed by the state, there is the belief that people are innocent until proven guilty.

Woebbeking said he would be glad to welcome Bowers back into active duty, noting the many years of experience he has in law enforcement.