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![handle is hein.sag/sagwi0020 and id is 1 raw text is: , STATE OF WISCONSIN
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
JAMES E. DOYLE 114 East, State Capitol
ATTORNEY GENERAL P.O. Box 7857
February 9, 1 993 Madison, WI 53707-7857
Patricia J. Gorence 682612
Deputy Attorney General 608/266-1221
OAG 1-93
The Honorable Walter Kunicki
Chairperson
Assembly Organization Committee
211 West, State Capitol
Madison, Wisconsin 53702
Dear Representative Kunicki:
The Assembly Committee on Organization (Committee) has asked
for my formal opinion on the following question:
[W]hen a chief of police discharges a probationary patrol
officer, and the chief is acting under s. 62.13, Stats.,
the rules of the local board of police and fire
commissioners and a labor contract, may the mayor of a
city validly order the chief of police to reinstate the
discharged patrol officer to a probationary position
under s. 62.09(8) and (13), Stats.?
In my opinion, the mayor may not lawfully order the chief of
police to reinstate a discharged probationary police officer.
The committee's question is one of statutory interpretation.
Specifically, how does the mayor's authority under section
62.09(8)(a) and (d), Stats., as chief executive officer and head of
the police department, with the concomitant duty of the chief,
under section 62.09(13)(a), to obey the mayor's lawful written
orders, apply to the reinstatement of a discharged probationary
police officer?
Section 62.09(8) provides in relevant part that:
(a) The mayor shall be the chief executive officer. The
mayor shall take care that city ordinances and state laws
are observed and enforced and that all city officers and
employes discharge their duties.
(d) Except in cities that have adopted s. 62.13(6),
the mayor shall be the head of the fire and police
departments, and where there is no board of police and](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagwi0020&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)