Nufer v. Village Board of Village of Palmyra

284 N.W.2d 649, 92 Wis. 2d 289, 1979 Wisc. LEXIS 2174
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 6, 1979
Docket77-064
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 284 N.W.2d 649 (Nufer v. Village Board of Village of Palmyra) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nufer v. Village Board of Village of Palmyra, 284 N.W.2d 649, 92 Wis. 2d 289, 1979 Wisc. LEXIS 2174 (Wis. 1979).

Opinion

WILLIAM G. CALLOW, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment affirming the decision of the Palmyra Village Board (Board) removing Ronald Nufer (Nufer) from his position as village police chief.

*291 Nufer had been Chief of Police for ten and one-half years. By resolution dated October 18, 1976, the Fire and Police Committee of the Village of Palmyra referred charges against Nufer to the full seven-member Village Board for hearing. The full Board passed a resolution scheduling a formal hearing on the charges. 1 Notice of the charges and date for hearing were sent to Nufer.

The following charges were preferred against Nufer:

“1. That Chief Nufer engaged in the business of selling eggs while on duty, in uniform, and with the police vehicle. That Chief Nufer stored eggs on a weekly basis in the Palmyra Police Department squad room from approximately the last half of 1973 through the year 1974. That in the same period of time Chief Nufer was observed delivering eggs while on duty, in uniform, and with the police vehicle on five occasions to the Donald McComb residence and on one occasion each to the Palmyra Junior High School and the Palmyra State Bank.
“2. That Chief Nufer on two occasions in the fall of 1972 engaged in grocery shopping at the People’s Market in Jefferson while on duty, in uniform, and with the police vehicle.
“3. That Chief Nufer failed to acquaint his officers with the Rules and Regulations adopted by the Village Board for the Police Department from the date of adoption of said rules on December 15, 1975 to the present. That Chief Nufer told Officer Balk to disregard the Rules and Regulations approximately one day after adoption and so told Officer McComb approximately one week *292 after adoption. That said conduct violates Rule I, Section 9 and Rule IV, Section 2 of the Rules and Regulations.
“4. That Chief Nufer while on duty expended large amounts of time on matters other than police business in violation of Rule II, Sections 22 and 23 and Rule IV, Section 52, more specifically as follows:
“(a) from 1973 to the present at the Edge of Town Restaurant, the Leo Houk residence, the L and L Service Station and the Iva and Leona Jones residence.
“ (b) in the fall of 1975 at the home of Vicki Wilson
“(c) in February — April of 1973 at the George Fuller residence
“5. That Chief Nufer from December 15, 1975 to the present has failed to keep an accurate record of the mileage as well as conditions of equipment of the police vehicle and has failed to enforce such requirements on his officers, as required by Rule III, Section 27 of the Police Rules and Regulations.
“6. That Chief Nufer has accepted free coffee and meals at greatly reduced prices at the Edge of Town Restaurant on a regular basis from 1973 to the present.
“7. That Chief Nufer has failed to properly and timely prosecute 65 five-day tickets and 51 parking tickets, thus resulting in loss of revenue to the Village. Copies of said tickets are annexed.
“8. In February of 1975 the Village President requested Chief Nufer to keep confidential their conversation regarding the reprimand of Officer Balk. On the following day details of that conversation were repeated at the Palmyra Standard Station.
“9. That Chief Nufer on two occasions in the fall of 1975 under the guise of his official duty drove his son to Palmyra High School football games to avoid payment of the admission fee.
“10. That on February 17, 1972, Chief Nufer engaged in reckless driving while transporting a patient to Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital.
“11. That in spring of 1976, Chief Nufer addressed a Kiwanis Club meeting held at the Kettle Country Inn in Palmyra concerning the work of the Police Department without authority from the Village Board in violation of Rule IV, Section 24.
*293 “12. That from December 15, 1975 to the present Chief Nufer has failed to check his officers at odd hours to determine if they were attending to duty, as required by Rule I, Section 6.
“13. That on March 19, 1967 Chief Nufer and Officer McComb were at the Messier home in Palmyra questioning Pike Messier concerning a hit and run accident. When members of the Messier family acted in a threatening manner toward Officer McComb, Chief Nufer suddenly left the premises, leaving Officer McComb in a position of extreme peril.
14. That in September, 1975, Chief Nufer investigated an altercation between Officer Balk and Gerald Bies. That in the summer of 1975 Chief Nufer investigated an altercation between Officer McComb and Dennis Beaver. That both of these investigations were requested by the Village Board, but Chief Nufer did not in either ease question his officers about their version of the incident. That in September, 1976, in the Palmyra Municipal Court Chief Nufer criticized the arrests by Officer Balk of several defendants under the loitering ordinance in the presence of the defendants, without first discussing the matter with Officer Balk. That said incidents undermined the authority of his officers.
“15. That on June 5, 1974 Chief Nufer attempted to enter the Edge of Town Restaurant with a sawed-off shotgun to arrest an unarmed juvenile but was prevented from doing so only by his inability to operate the gun release. That said incident indicates a lack of good judgment inasmuch as Chief Nufer was armed with a standard police revolver and the use of the shotgun would have injured other customers in the restaurant.
“16. That Chief Nufer has shown a lack of initiative, leadership and direction in the following respects:
“(a) in 1973 Chief Nufer refused to issue a citation upon the complaint of Betty Nelson that an individual had inflicted upon her injuries requiring 41 stitches despite the fact the Palmyra Police Department had received 72 similar complaints against him in the last three years.
“(b) that throughout his tenure as police chief he has failed to instruct his officers in matters of police procedure and substantive law.”

*294 The notice of charges, in addition to specifying the place, date, and time of the hearing, also informed Nufer as follows:

“You may be represented by counsel of your choice at said hearing, you may be present at said hearing, you or your attorney may confront and cross-examine witnesses against you, and you may present witnesses or other evidence on your behalf. At your request or that of your attorney, subpoenas will be issued by the Village Board on your behalf. If you or your attorney have further questions regarding said hearing you may contact the Village Attorney’s Office.”

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Bluebook (online)
284 N.W.2d 649, 92 Wis. 2d 289, 1979 Wisc. LEXIS 2174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nufer-v-village-board-of-village-of-palmyra-wis-1979.