Gov. Jim Doyle will start the process of removing the Calumet County District Attorney accused of sending sexual text messages to a domestic abuse victim as soon as possible, Doyle said at a press conference Monday.

Doyle said he has the power to remove a DA from office for misconduct or malfeasance and the first step is the receipt of just one verified complaint from a taxpayer of the county calling for removal.

Although his office does not yet have that complaint, he said he believed it would be coming soon.

“I think I can be reasonably confident given the kind of contacts and publicity this case has had and the strong feelings it has created,” Doyle said. “I fully expect a petition to be filed.”

Once Doyle receives the complaint, he said he plans to move “very swiftly,” hopefully within 30 days.

Calumet County DA Ken Kratz allegedly sent a series of text messages (.PDF, 19.71MB) of a sexual nature to a domestic abuse victim whose boyfriend he was prosecuting for allegedly strangling her, according to the police report.

The Calumet County DA Office announced Monday Kratz will be going on medical leave for an undetermined length of time, effective immediately.

Kratz has retained an attorney, according to the statement from the Calumet County DA Office.

Kratz said Friday he will not resign his position as DA.

While on medical leave, Kratz is still the elected Calumet County DA and will be paid, Doyle said.

Doyle also addressed a letter his office released (.PDF, 2.3MB) from another woman claiming Kratz misused the authority of his position in his relationship with her.

The woman, whose name was withheld by the governor’s office, said she went out to dinner with Kratz in January, during which time he discussed several details about a case involving a missing woman suspected to have been killed by her boyfriend.

Kratz later asked the woman to accompany him to the autopsy when a body was found, according to the letter.

The woman said Kratz’s texts to her “went so far as inviting me to go with him to the autopsy provided I would be his girlfriend and would wear high heels and a skirt.”

Doyle said the situation behind this new set of allegations was “mind-boggling”.

“To have an autopsy be used as a premise for a social engagement is beyond anything anybody can imagine,” Doyle said, adding his office still wants to check all facts behind the alleged incidents described in the letter.

A series of recently released emails shows the state Department of Justice was aware of the situation in November but upon review took no disciplinary action against Kratz.

The DOJ’s division of legal services decided Kratz had not violated any ethics rules outright and would not remove him from office at the time, according to the emails.

Doyle said he did not know why it took so long for the situation to come to light outside of the DOJ and that nobody in his office or the departments he works with had any knowledge of the issue until last Wednesday.