WTMJ4 | Court Upholds Milwaukee Residency Requirements
By The Associated Press. CREATED Jul 21, 2015 – UPDATED: Jul 21, 2015
MADISON — A state appeals court says Milwaukee’s employee residency requirements trump a state law barring such restrictions.
The 2013-15 state budget contains language that prohibits local governments from enforcing any residency requirements beyond requiring police and firefighters to live within 15 miles of the government unit. Milwaukee officials refused to abide by the law, triggering a lawsuit by the Milwaukee Professional Police Association.
The 1st District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the budget language was designed to target Milwaukee and doesn’t deal with an issue of statewide concern because it doesn’t affect every municipality uniformly.
The police association’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
According to the decision, the city of Milwaukee employs about 7,000 people.