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Lautenschlager to forego pay

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By

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager will give up 10 days’ worth of salary to compensate for her use of a state-owned vehicle while intoxicated.

During that time, Lautenschlager will continue to work without pay. The net salary for the 10-day period will amount to $3,250.

Lautenschlager volunteered to forfeit the pay after she was arrested for driving drunk Feb. 23. While driving home from Madison to Fond du Lac in a state vehicle, Lautenschlager drove into a ditch and was later arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

After police officials arrived at the scene of the accident, Lautenschlager refused to take a blood test.

Last week, Lautenschlager entered a guilty plea for her drunk-driving charge. She also did not dispute a Dodge County police officer’s report of her refusing a blood test.

State personnel codes say that driving a state vehicle while intoxicated can result in penalties “up to and including discharge,” according to The Capital Times. However, incidents similar to Lautenschlager’s at the Department of Justice have resulted in salary penalties.

The attorney general offered an apology and promised to take responsibility for the drunk-driving incident in a press conference addressing last week’s DWI arrest.

“There have been countless questions regarding the incident Monday night,” Lautenschlager said in the press conference. “The bottom line is that I made the wrong choice — and for that I will take full responsibility.”

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Wisconsin said that although they would not comment on the pay forfeit, they felt Lautenschlager must use her arrest to initiate a statewide campaign to “refocus and reinvigorate the fight against drunk driving.”

“We would still like to see her words put into action,” Kari Kinnard, executive director of MADD Wisconsin, said. “Until that happens, we’d like to see more.”

The organization sent the attorney general a letter inviting her to meet with MADD leaders to talk about the problem of drunk driving. Kinnard says the group plans to keep an eye on further developments regarding Lautenschlager’s DWI arrest.

“We will continue to monitor the situation to remind Peg Lautenschlager … so that this issue does remain important,” she said.