Stueland v. Cullen

WILL has filed a new lawsuit against Milwaukee County to end an unconstitutional carve out allowing Milwaukee County to withhold millions from Wisconsin’s Common School Fund. This fund, mandated by the Wisconsin Constitution, supports libraries in schools and communities across Wisconsin. Under a provision tucked away in the current state budget, Milwaukee County may take 100% of all traffic fines and forfeitures, while other counties must deposit most of this money into the Common School Fund. Milwaukee County is now the only county that benefits from this carve out in the state budget.

The Wisconsin Constitution created the Common School Fund and requires the clear proceeds of all state fines and forfeitures to be deposited in it. That fund then provides crucial funding to public libraries and schools throughout Wisconsin. Historically, all counties could keep 50% of fines and forfeitures, but this new law gives Milwaukee County a unique exemption, allowing it to keep all the revenue of state traffic fines and forfeitures. This is a direct hit to the Common School Fund that distributed $70 million to libraries in 2025 alone. The State of Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates this change will cause a loss of $4.4 million to the fund over the current two-year state budget, or about $2.2 million each year.