SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A campground owner who has challenged the jurisdiction of law enforcement and the courts is back in jail, nearly four months after a warrant was issued after she skipped two court hearings.
Ann Retzlaff, 53, is charged with eluding an officer, recklessly endangering safety, and resisting in connection with a May 15 traffic stop.
Retzlaff’s court appearance on Oct. 5 was postponed because she said she was ill. It was rescheduled for Oct. 26, but she did not show again, so an arrest warrant was issued. After her eventual arrest on that, Retzlaff posted a $3,000 cash bond and was released from jail with instructions to appear in court Nov. 23. Once again, she did not show, so Judge William Kussel again ordered her arrest — this time with the condition she would not be able to post bond would need to appear before a judge before she could be released. The bond was forfeited to the county.
The Shawano County Sheriff’s Dept. confirmed to FOX 11 Wednesday she was in custody but did not have any other details.
The Clerk of Courts office said a court appearance will be scheduled, but as of Wednesday afternoon, nothing specific had been set.
Retzlaff owns Annie’s Campground, near Gresham, in Shawano County, Wisconsin. At various stages of interactions with police and courts, she has claimed to be a “sovereign citizen” who was not subject to the jurisdiction of police or the courts.
In the case the arrest warrant was issued for, police tried to pull Retzlaff over for failure to stop at a traffic light on May 15, 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.
“She stated she did not do anything wrong, and she was being wrongfully stopped. She stated she is a sovereign citizen and will not step out of the vehicle,” the complaint states.
A deputy tried to pry a vehicle door open when Retzlaff put the vehicle in gear to drive away. Two deputies had to move out of the way to avoid being hit by the vehicle, it states.
The vehicle was stopped a second time. A deputy “broke the driver window with his baton. The door was then opened, and Ann was taken from the vehicle and escorted to the ground. She was secured in handcuffs,” the complaint states.
Retzlaff told police she was rescuing an employee from sex traffickers, which is why she didn’t stop for police, and maintained she didn’t do anything wrong.
Retzlaff has been in trouble with the law before. Last year, she was ticketed for unlawful use of a telephone for posing as a Shawano County sheriff’s deputy. Her campground also came under fire last year for ignoring protocols to slow the spread of COVID-19.
For her November court hearing, Retzlaff sent multiple messages to the court, arguing she feared appearing in court to the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserting the court did not have jurisdiction over her. Judge Kussel rejected the arguments as improperly filed, and noting they did not cite any proper legal authority.
Retzlaff also filed notice with the court she had filed suit through the so-called Unified United States Common Law Grand Jury, demanding the criminal case against her be halted. After the filing, Shawano County Judge William Kussel removed himself from the felony case. It is now assigned to Marathon County Judge Michael Moran.
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