TOWN OF ELDORADO, WI (WHBL/KFIZ) - A Milwaukee County judge Wednesday could make a decision on the placement of a violent sex offender who was supposed to be placed in the Town of Eldorado.
That became less of a possibility when the state’s Department of Health Services submitted a letter to the court withdrawing their request for a supervised release plan to place 51-year-old Clinton Rhymes in Eldorado.
Rhymes is eligible for supervised release after serving time for a 1988 sexual assault and attempted murder case. It was current regulations regarding where sex offenders can be place in Milwaukee County, plus objections from local leaders there, that had the DHS consider his release in Fond du Lac County.
Despite this latest development, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says the judge still has to make the final decision. “So it’s not a done deal yet, but it’s definitely a positive sign with DHS now requesting to withdraw that proposed placement.”
The DHS cited “matters outside our control” as the reason the placement is no longer viable. Toney says an ordinance recently passed by the Town Board and opposition at a meeting called by Sheriff Mick Fink got the attention of the DHS. “This is really a sign of community members banding together and saying ‘this isn’t right, we don’t want this in our community’, and then doing something about it; writing letters to the judge, showing up to the informational hearing and showing that it wasn’t something that they wanted to tolerate. I have to imagine that DHS and others in the state took notice of that.”
Toney says it’s hoped that local state legislators like Senator Rick Gudex and State Representative Michael Schraa can craft legislation that will prevent other communities from having to go through what Eldorado has.