Judge to Norgaards: Enough is enough

Judge Klein orders couple to stop harassing village officials, staff

A Rib Lake couple will have to be more careful in how they interact with village officials.

Following a three-hour hearing on Feb. 27, Circuit Court Judge Kevin Klein ordered an injunction against Ken and Renee Norgaard prohibiting them from harassing village employees and board members.

Violation of the court order will result in “immediate arrest” and is punishable by up to nine months in jail and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000.

Under terms of the injunction, the Norgaards must:

_ Cease or avoid the harassment of any village officials or employees.

_ Cease contacting any village officials, in person, or by telephone, except through the village attorney’s office.

_ Cease or avoid in engaging in any conduct that is deemed to be disorderly conduct during village board meetings or during interaction with village officials. Disorderly conduct includes, but is not limited to loud, profane, or abusive language that tends to cause or provoke a disturbance.

_ Cease coming upon the grounds of village hall without prior notification to the village attorney’s office.

Exceptions to these restrictions are that the Norgaards may attend village board meetings, but must give advance notice of attendance to the village attorney’s office. They may also vote in person at village hall. In addition, they may also contact village emergency services and law enforcement.

Judge Klein also ordered that the injunction be in place for four years, until Feb. 27. 2024.

“The village is saying enough is enough and the court agrees,” Klein said during last week’s hearing.

The Norgaards had been served by Taylor County Sheriff’s Deputies with a temporary restraining order from the village on Feb. 19. The hearing was the opportunity for the Norgaards to contest the order. Price County Judge Klein was appointed to hear the case in place of Judge Ann Knox-Bauer after a substitute judge was requested. In 2015, Knox-Bauer ruled in favor of the village when the Norgaards had filed a lawsuit seeking a refund for overpayment of taxes for their business North Garden Trees.

The tax overpayment, which occurred prior to 2010, was repeatedly raised during last week’s hearing regarding the alleged harassment by the Norgaards.

Klein noted that the Norgaards spent much of the hearing “hammering away” at the tax issue which he said had already been resolved in the court’s eyes.

For their part, the Norgaards defended their actions noting they have only been looking out for their interests in regard to seeking a refund of what they claim is more than $4,000 of tax overpayments.

“There are 890 people in Rib Lake and I feel like it is 888 to two,” Ken Norgaard said, during his testimony where he said it was him and his wife who were the ones being bullied by village officials.

During the hearing, the Norgaards represented themselves while the village was represented by attorney Ruth Ann Koch. Separate harassment cases had been filed against Ken and Renee Norgaard, but the cases were heard together.

The hearing began with the response from the village to a subpoena from the Norgaards demanding five years worth of audio tapes from board meetings and an extensive list of other items. Koch noted that with less than 24 hours notice they did not have time to comply since the tapes must be sent out to be dubbed by an outside service.

Prior to the hearing the Norgaards had requested it be delayed, but under state law the hearing must be held within 14 days of the restraining order being served. It was noted that neither the court nor the individuals would be available for a date other than Feb. 27.

The first witness called to testify was village clerk Dawn Swenson who has held the position for 38 years. Swenson testified to the interaction she has had with the Norgaards, in particular with Ken Norgaard when he comes into the clerk’s office. “He intimidates me,” Swenson said, noting the couple accused her of upcharging tapes, and of intentionally making poor copies of meeting tapes along with their ongoing complaints about how Swenson wrote up the meeting minutes.

Swenson focused on specific instances of interactions with the Norgaards that she said caused her to be afraid. She testifi ed that in October 2018, Ken Norgaard had come into her office at village hall and told her that they could have been the best of friends had she sided with them on the tax issue. Swenson testified that at that visit Ken Norgaard told him that if she paid them $5,000 out of her own pocket he would leave her alone.

“I felt like it was a threat,” Swenson said, noting that she could not pay him the $5,000 out of her own pocket. She said she was worried he was going to come after her. “I was nervous, I don’t know what will come next,” she said.

According to Swenson, following Ken Norgaard’s visits to village hall, it would take her hours to regain her concentration.

She said the negative interactions went further back noting a June 2008 incident that occurred at the village post office. Swenson said Norgaard had come up behind her and asked her about the meeting from the night before and told her “don’t you ever run out of a meeting again” and that she needed “to be a better clerk and a better Christian.”

“It made me feel degraded, belittled, like a child being scolded,” Swenson said.

More recently, she testified of incidents that occurred at the December 2019 board meeting where the Norgaards were being argumentative complaining that the board rules for public comment were against the law and not abiding by civil rights. Swenson testified that Ken Norgaard warned village president Bill Schreiner “that he better watch out.”

Swenson testified that her husband has begun attending the meetings and that she has taken classes on dealing with difficult people. In addition, she said she has talked with her pastor about being calm and staying strong.

During cross examination, Renee Norgaard suggested that Swenson did not understand the difference between