City finds no violation in Trevor Jung’s time records; sheriff cites conflict in declining case | Racine

Originally published by Racine County Eye.

In short:

The City of Racine says it reviewed Trevor Jung’s time logs and payroll records and found no instance in which he mixed political activity with city work. That finding rests largely on a work calendar Jung kept himself at the City’s direction; the time records show daily totals, not hours. The Racine County Sheriff’s Office says it won’t investigate the complaint against Jung because Sheriff Christopher Schmaling supports his Republican opponent, Jim Croft, and that it notified the state Division of Criminal Investigation. No charges have been filed. A Republican campaign committee obtained Jung’s time records in August, before the Heartland Post’s story. A WMC Issues Mobilization Council TV ad cites two dates the City’s records show as a vacation day and a sick day.

The City of Racine says it reviewed state Senate candidate Trevor Jung’s time logs and payroll records and found no instance of him mixing political activity with his city job, as ads now running against him claim.

“Having reviewed Trevor Jung’s time logs and payroll records, the city finds no instance in which he violated the prohibition separating his city work from outside political activities,” City Communications Director Shannon Powell wrote Oct. 20.

That finding rests largely on a work calendar Jung kept himself, at the City’s direction, to show when he was on city time. The City’s time records show only a daily total for each pay type, not when he started or stopped work, and the City has no clock-in or building-access records for salaried employees.

Separately, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office said it will not investigate the complaint against Jung because Sheriff Christopher Schmaling supports his opponent. “Sheriff Schmaling decided he and the Sheriff’s Office have a conflict with conducting any investigation related to Jung because the Sheriff is strongly supporting Jung’s political opponent, Jim Croft,” spokesperson Lt. Michael Luell wrote Oct. 20. The office notified the state Division of Criminal Investigation, he said. A TV ad from WMC Issues Mobilization Council tells voters, “Now it’s a sheriff’s investigation.”

Jung has denied campaigning on city time.

“I have not, do not, and will not campaign on City time,” he said in written answers Oct. 15. In a statement Oct. 20, he said: “From the outset, this complaint has been pushed by the same partisan groups spending millions of dollars to elect my opponent. The allegations are false. I have never campaigned on City time, and the City of Racine, my employer, has made that clear.”

Racine County Eye sought comment from Jung’s campaign, the City, the Racine Police Department, the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney Patricia Hanson, the state Department of Justice, the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, the Heartland Post, WMC Issues Mobilization Council, the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Croft campaign. Jung’s campaign, the City, the Police Department, and the Sheriff’s Office answered, and Hanson spoke with Racine County Eye on Oct. 14. The Republican committee, WMC, the Croft campaign and the Department of Justice did not respond by publication, and the Republican Party did not answer questions sent Oct. 16. Racine County Eye will add their responses if they reply.

Jung, the City’s transit and mobility director and the Democratic candidate in the 21st Senate District, faces Republican Jim Croft on Nov. 3 for the seat Sen. Van Wanggaard is leaving. A Republican campaign committee obtained Jung’s time records from the City in August, a month before a conservative news site, the Heartland Post, reported that he had campaigned on public time.

What the City found

The City’s employee handbook says, “Employees may not engage in any form of political activity on the job.” Powell said the City told Jung he would have to keep a clear line between the two when he decided to run.

“The requirement for intentional, bright-line delineation separating outside political activity from city work was communicated to Trevor Jung when he announced his state senate campaign,” Powell wrote. “In order to substantiate this bright-line separation of city and political time, Transit Director Jung maintained a calendar log from September 16th, 2025, through September 30th, 2026.”

The City Administrator and Human Resources talked with Jung about his hours “at various times throughout late 2025 and 2026,” most recently in June 2026, before he asked for a leave of absence, Powell said. Jung also discussed running with the City Attorney in July 2025. “The City Attorney does not represent Trevor,” Powell wrote, and, as the City’s attorney, spoke about what Jung would need to consider to comply with City policy and ordinances.

Jung is salaried and exempt from overtime, with an expected schedule of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Like all salaried department heads, he has a flexible schedule “to accommodate evening appearances at city council and committee meetings,” Powell wrote.

When Jung decided to run, “he was told he needs to account for that time clearly to make sure he was still meeting his job duties as transit director and accounting for his 40 hours a week on City time,” Powell wrote. City Administrator Jim Sullivan approves his timecards and time off.

The City’s time system “records hours worked and time off approved. It is not a detailed hour-by-hour record of the employee’s day,” Powell wrote. “The day-to-day record of Trevor’s time is his calendar.”

Jung has been on unpaid leave since Oct. 1, the City said, under the handbook’s section on unpaid leaves of absence. The leave was approved June 23 and signed by Sullivan, LaNeka Horton and Mayor Cory Mason.

The City said it has not received any specific allegations from the complaint filed with the district attorney.

“To date, the only information or allegations we have seen come from politically motivated sources like the Republican Party and other politically motivated commentary on websites,” Powell wrote. Jung is a City department head, and the City, which issued the finding, employs him.

Is he under investigation?

District Attorney Patricia Hanson told Racine County Eye on Oct. 14 that she had sent a resident’s complaint out for investigation.

When asked whether an investigation was underway, she said, “It’s ongoing.”

She also said she could not find a law enforcement agency willing to take it.

“Right now, it’s like a hot potato,” she said.

Luell said the district attorney’s office contacted the Sheriff’s Office about the allegations before the Sheriff decided his office had a conflict, and that the Sheriff’s Office “notified DCI of the situation and encouraged them to contact the DA’s Office.”

The state Department of Justice, which oversees DCI, did not say by publication whether DCI has the case.

“There has been no contact with the DA or law enforcement, and we are not aware if there is any actual investigation underway,” Powell wrote. The Racine Police Department said Oct. 15 that it has “no involvement with the investigation.”

Jung’s campaign says no agency, including DCI, has contacted him. No charges have been filed. A search of Wisconsin Circuit Court Access on Oct. 19 found no court cases under Jung’s name.

Who got the records, and when

• Aug. 3: Rachel Keith of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, writing from a Republican Party of Wisconsin email address, asks the City for Jung’s “timesheet records, including records of hours worked, personal time, sick leave, vacation time, and other recorded leave” from Sept. 1, 2025, through Aug. 3, 2026, according to the request.
• Aug. 7: The City Attorney’s Office sends Keith the records.
• Sept. 5: Keith asks for the same kinds of records from July 1 through Sept. 5.
• Sept. 10: The Heartland Post, a conservative news site led by radio host Dan O’Donnell, according to its website, publishes his story, saying it obtained Jung’s time records. It does not say how.
• Sept. 16: The Republican committee circulates the Heartland story.
• Sept. 25: Heartland reports that the district attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation.
• Oct. 1: Jung’s unpaid leave begins.
• Oct. 5: Kate Teasdale, a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Holtzman Vogel, follows up “on behalf of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate.” The City sends her the second set of records that day.

“We have no record of a request from Heartland Post,” Powell wrote.

That doesn’t show how Heartland Post got the records, and Racine County Eye has no information about how it did. Requesting an opponent’s public records is legal and common in campaigns.

“Information released in a public records request is public, even if it was released in error, which I don’t think is being alleged here,” said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. Racine County Eye asked Keith whether the committee shared the records and asked the Heartland Post how it obtained them. Neither responded by publication.

What the records and calendar show on the dates cited

Racine County Eye compared the City’s time records and Jung’s calendar, both released by the City, with each date the Heartland Post and the WMC ad cited, and with the campaign’s written account of each.

• Jan. 21: Eight hours of regular pay. The calendar shows City work from about 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and nothing in the evening. The campaign says the event was a UAW council meeting after work; it posted at 7:38 p.m.
• Feb. 11–12: Eight hours of regular pay each day. The calendar shows City work from morning to late afternoon both days. Heartland called it a Feb. 12 breakfast fundraiser. The campaign says the event was the evening of Feb. 11; a flyer it provided lists a fundraiser from 6 to 8 p.m. that day at Luxe Golf Bays in Franklin.
• April 16: Eight hours of prior-year vacation. The calendar marks the day “Madison – Off,” and also lists a short morning meeting with the mayor. The campaign says Jung took a vacation day to speak as a candidate at a Senate Democrats’ news conference outside the Capitol.
• May 5: Eight hours of regular pay. The calendar shows City work starting at 7 a.m., an afternoon regional planning commission meeting and “OUT” from 5 p.m. The campaign says the Janesville fundraiser started at 5 p.m. Later that week, the calendar shows a work event Thursday evening and work events Friday running past 6 p.m.
• May 19: Eight hours of regular pay. The calendar shows City work from 7 a.m. to about 5 p.m. and a Common Council meeting at 6 p.m. The campaign says the event was an after-work fundraiser; a flyer it provided lists the fundraiser from 6 to 8 p.m., the same time as the council meeting on his calendar. The campaign says council meetings are often placed on Jung’s calendar “for visibility” and that he is not always expected to attend unless transit business requires it. It says he worked from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day and then went to the fundraiser.
• Week of May 25: Monday was a paid holiday. Tuesday, May 26, was a sick day; the calendar marks it “Out,” with one 2:30 p.m. meeting listed. The campaign says Jung attended only one campaign event that day: a 6 p.m. meeting at Greendale Community Church. It confirmed the sick day and said it would not share details about his health. Wednesday through Friday show eight hours of regular pay and full days of City work on the calendar.
• July 6–10: Eight hours of regular pay each day. The calendar shows City work starting around 7:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday, a work event until about 5:30 p.m. Monday and Common Council at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Friday afternoon is marked “FLEX.” The campaign says Jung attended a quarry tour then.

The calendar shows what Jung scheduled and recorded, not where he was. It does not list campaign events. A calendar like Jung’s is “a reasonable record to seek and obtain,” Lueders said, “but the public should keep in mind that it may contain information calculated to make the public official look good, or not provide information that officials might not want seen, like two-hour lunch breaks or campaign appearances.”

Because the time records show only daily totals, an eight-hour day is consistent with Heartland’s account that he was paid for a full day while campaigning, and with the campaign’s, that he worked around evening events or made up the time. The campaign says the time records “report a standard eight-hour day by pay code and don’t track additional hours worked.”

The WMC mailer

A mailer from WMC Issues Mobilization Council, which a Caledonia man received this month, shows Jung’s photo under the headline “Felony misconduct while in public office?” and says he “is under investigation for a Class I felony by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office.” It reads: “Call Trevor Jung at 262-636-9123 and tell him it’s wrong to abuse our tax dollars.”

That number is Jung’s City of Racine office line. It is listed beside his name in the RYDE Racine staff directory. Jung has been on leave since Oct. 1.

WMC Issues Mobilization Council is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit run by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce leaders; its president is Kurt Bauer, according to its federal tax filings. WMC describes it as an “issue advocacy fund” and says on its website that “donor identities are not subject to disclosure.”

WMC’s TV ad

The group’s TV ad, which it also posts on its website, says: “May 26, full payday, campaigning in Greendale” and “April 16, Madison campaign press conference, 100 miles from his desk.” It says he has been “accused of campaigning on your dime 19 times” and that “now it’s a sheriff’s investigation, and you’re paying for that too.”

The City’s records do not match two of those claims:

• April 16: The records show a vacation day, and the calendar marks it “Madison – Off.”
• May 26: The records show a sick day, not a paid workday, and the calendar marks it “Out.” The ad says the Greendale meeting was at 10 a.m.; the campaign says 6 p.m. Jung’s calendar shows nothing at 10 a.m. Racine County Eye could not independently confirm the meeting’s time.

Two other claims are not supported:

• “A sheriff’s investigation”: The Sheriff’s Office says it declined to investigate because the Sheriff supports Croft.
• “19 times”: Racine County Eye has not seen a list of 19 dates from WMC, the Heartland Post or the Republican committee, which used the same figure. Racine County Eye asked the committee and WMC for the list.

Racine County Eye asked Bauer on Oct. 19 what the mailer and the TV ad’s claims are based on, why the mailer lists Jung’s City line, how many households received it and what it cost. WMC did not respond by publication.

Other groups making the claim

• The Republican Party of Wisconsin paid for mailers “authorized by Jim Croft for Wisconsin.” One says Jung is “under investigation for allegedly abusing his taxpayer-funded position,” calls it “Unethical at best. Felony at worst.” and shows a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline, “Trevor Jung faces probe into campaigning on city time.” Another, according to a copy Jung’s campaign provided, says “Trevor Jung has taken taxpayers for a ride!” and cites the Heartland Post’s Sept. 11 headline. The party did not answer questions sent Oct. 16.
• First Amendment LLC, a Virginia-based group, reported spending $572,227 against Jung on literature, mail, phone calls and digital ads, according to its Sept. 17 report to the state Ethics Commission.

What the law says

The Heartland Post and the Republican committee cite Wisconsin’s misconduct in public office law, a Class I felony. One part of it covers a public employee who intentionally falsifies a report or record. A prosecutor would have to prove the employee meant to falsify it. No charges have been filed.

The WMC mailer does not ask anyone to vote for or against Jung. Under Wisconsin’s 2015 campaign finance law, communications that avoid words such as “vote for” or “defeat” are treated as issue advocacy rather than campaign spending, and the groups that pay for them do not report their donors to the state, according to a Legislative Council summary of the law.

What we don’t know

Where Jung was, hour by hour, on the dates cited; the calendar is his own record. Whether the DCI or any other agency took the complaint. How the Heartland Post got the records. What the 19 dates are. Whether transit business was on the May 19 Common Council agenda. How many households got the WMC mailer and who paid for it.

What we’ll check next

We will update this story with answers from the state Department of Justice, District Attorney Hanson, the Republican committee, the Heartland Post, WMC and the Croft campaign, and with the rest of the City’s response to Racine County Eye’s records request.

Disclosure

Racine County Eye sells advertising, separately from its newsroom. It has offered election advertising to both Senate campaigns. The City of Racine buys advertising from Racine County Eye. Hanson is the billing contact for the Madrigal sheriff campaign’s advertising with Racine County Eye. Racine County Eye does not endorse candidates.

More on the race: DA says she can’t find an agency to investigate the Jung complaint, our 21st Senate District voter guide, Jung’s campaign launch and Croft’s campaign launch.

Documents: City of Racine written answers from Communications Director Shannon Powell, Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, 2026; City of Racine time reports for Trevor Jung, Sept. 1, 2025–Aug. 3, 2026, and July 1–Sept. 5, 2026; Trevor Jung work calendar, Sept. 16, 2025–Nov. 3, 2026, released by the City Oct. 20; records requests from the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, Aug. 3 and Sept. 5, 2026, and the City’s responses, Aug. 7 and Oct. 5, 2026; City of Racine Application for Extended Leave of Absence, June 23, 2026; Racine County Sheriff’s Office statement, Oct. 20; Jung campaign written answers, Oct. 15 and Oct. 20, and fundraiser flyers for Feb. 11 and May 19; Racine Police Department statement, Oct. 15; Racine County Eye interview with Patricia Hanson, Oct. 14; written answers from Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, Oct. 20; WMC Issues Mobilization Council mailer and TV ad; Republican Party of Wisconsin mailers; RYDE Racine staff directory; WMC Issues Mobilization Council Form 990 filings and website; First Amendment LLC report to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, Sept. 17, 2026; Heartland Post, About, Sept. 10 and Sept. 25, 2026; Committee to Elect a Republican Senate releases, Sept. 16 and Oct. 8; Wis. Stat. § 946.12; City of Racine Employee Handbook, 2024.

Updated Oct. 20, 2026, at 7:50 p.m. to add Jung’s Oct. 20 statement and his campaign’s answers about May 19, May 26 and DCI, and to correct wording in several passages.