Ann Retzlaff appears before Marathon County court via Zoom, October 2, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
BARABOO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) –- A not guilty plea was entered for Ann Retzlaff Monday on charges she filed illegal personal liens against those professionally involved in the foreclosure of the campground she used to own.
These charges are in addition to a series of criminal charges in Shawano County related to a May 2021 traffic stop, and subsequent bail jumping charges for missed court dates and bond violations.
Sauk County filed charges against Retzlaff in May — five counts of criminal slander of title, and two counts of bail jumping.
At Monday’s hearing, Retzlaff declined to enter a plea, said she wants to challenge the court’s jurisdiction, and wants the case moved to federal court.
Sauk County Judge Michael Screnock entered the not guilty plea on her behalf, and indicated he doesn’t believe the case can be moved to federal court, court records show.
A three-day trial is planned, but has not been scheduled.
State law defines the charge of ‘criminal slander of title’ as: “Any person who submits for filing, entering or recording any lien, claim of lien, lis pendens, writ of attachment, financing statement or any other instrument relating to a security interest in or title to real or personal property, and who knows or should have known that the contents or any part of the contents of the instrument are false, a sham or frivolous, is guilty of a Class H felony.”
According to the criminal complaint, Retzlaff filed liens against employees of the bank which foreclosed Annie’s Campground in Gresham, an attorney, the receiver who managed the site on an interim basis, and the owner of the company which purchased the campground.
The bank attorney was concerned the lien would show up on his credit reports or in other financial situations, even though he had no personal business dealings with Retzlaff. The other victims made similar comments to police.
The criminal charges were filed in Sauk County as police identified Retzlaff on surveillance video at the Reedsburg Library on Nov. 7, where she used library computers to create the liens before going to Reedsburg City Hall to have the liens notarized. Her address is listed as the Sauk County town of La Valle.
The deputy who crafted the complaint characterized Retzlaff’s actions as an “attempt to intimidate and harass the parties involved in the legal process that she is disputing” and as retaliation.
Police talked to Retzlaff on Dec. 9 — before arrest warrants were issued in Shawano County for missed court dates — when she admitted to sending the liens.
In the original case, police tried to pull Retzlaff over for failure to stop at a traffic light on May 15, 2021, but she did not pull over, the complaint states. Eventually, traffic stop spikes were deployed, flattening her tires, and the vehicle stopped. An officer advised her to get out of the vehicle. When she was arrested on warrants for not showing up in court on the original case, she allegedly was confrontational with officers, prompting additional charges.
After skipping a court hearing in January, a warrant for her arrest was issued. She was arrested in August, when a judge tripled her cash bond — which now stands at $57,000 total for those cases. Bond has not posted.
A mental competency exam was requested in those cases. She has upcoming court dates in December and January in Shawano County.
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