Peg Lautenschlager is the Attorney General of the State of Wisconsin. She replaced fellow Democrat James Doyle when Doyle was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 2002. Lautenschlager is the first woman to be elected Attorney General in the State of Wisconsin.

Personal Life

Peg Lautenschlager is a native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and still resides there. Peg Lautenschlager is married to Bill Rippl, a retired police officer from the city of Neenah, Wisconsin (30 miles north of Fond du Lac). She has three children: Joshua, age 23, Ryan, age 19, and Rebecca, age 14, and two step-children, Jason, age 26, and Justin, age 21.

Professional Life

Lautenschlager has had a wide variety of jobs in the law enforcement and lawyer fields. Lautenschlager is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lake Forest College 1977, honoring in history and mathematics. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in June 1980.

From July 1985 to December 1988, Lautenschlager was District Attorney for Winnebago County. Prior to her service as D.A., she was an attorney in private practice in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, specializing in family and domestic abuse law. She has also served as a member of the adjunct faculties of the University of Wisconsin Law School, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and Ripon College, and served as interim circuit court commissioner of Winnebago County.

Lautenschlager served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1989 to 1993 representing the Fond du Lac area. She chaired the Assembly Select Committee on Drug Enforcement, Education, and Treatment and Subcommittee on Corrections Systems Concerns. She also served on the Committees on Criminal Justice, Elections and Constitutional Law, Environmental Resources, Utilities and Mining, Natural Resources, Judiciary, and Education. She served as Vice-chair of Legislative Counsel Committees on Drug Enforcement and Review of Sexual Assault Laws.

In 1996, Lautenschlager was appointed by Janet Reno to serve on the 15-member Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. As a member of the committee, Lautenschlager met regularly with Reno and other high ranking Justice Department officials regarding various department issues. She was the first Wisconsinite ever selected to serve on the prestigious committee.

Until April of 2001, Lautenschlager served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. She was the chief federal law enforcement officer for the state’s westernmost 44 counties. During her almost eight-year tenure, she was responsible for the prosecution of federal criminal actions and litigation of civil matters involving the federal government.

Lautenschlager is a former member of the Wisconsin State Elections Board, the Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse and the Democratic National Committee. She was a Girl Scout troop leader and served as a member of the boards of directors for the Western Wisconsin Bar Association, Blandine House, Inc., the Oshkosh Area Big Brothers and Sisters, the Waubun Girl Scout Council, the Oshkosh Rape Crisis Center, and the Fond du Lac Morning Optimist Club. She is an Associate Member of the Wisconsin Association of Women Police.

Controversy

So far, Lautenschlager's term has been beset by controversy. In February 2004, she was stopped for drunk driving in Dodge County, which is 20 to 30 miles from her home, while driving a state owned car. Her preliminary breathilizer test at the scene showed that her blood alcohol level was 0.12 or 50 percent above the legal limit of 0.08. Lautenschlager said that she had fallen asleep at the wheel. She was arrested and placed into a squad car. She ended up being released to her husband. The most controversial part of her arrest outside of using the state owned car is that she refused a blood test, which is standard for a DUI stop in Wisconsin.

In the end, she was found by an ethics board to be ok in her use of the car that night. All she was charged was a $250 penalty and mileage for use of the car.

Cancer

Lautenschlager was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. As of 2005, she is regrowing her hair lost during radiation therapy, but the cancer is in remission.

External Link and References

• Bio for Peg Lautenshlager - (retrieved Feb. 15th, 2005)
• Lautenschlager stopped for drunken driving
• Report on ethics board inquiry