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Milwaukee County’s Airport Division provides and manages air transportation services at General Mitchell International Airport (GMIA) and Lawrence J. Timmerman Field.

The Airport Division operates under the purview of the county’s Department of Transportation and Public Works. The division operates as an enterprise fund in county government, which means that it functions as an independent business unit designed to pay and recover its own costs.

Milwaukee County’s Behavioral Health Division (BHD) provides a variety of inpatient, emergency and community-based care and treatment to children and adults with mental health and substance abuse disorders. The county’s role is dictated primarily by the Wisconsin Statutes, which specifically assign Milwaukee County government responsible for the “management, operation, maintenance and improvement of human services” in the county, including mental health treatment and alcohol and substance abuse services (Section 46.21).

Milwaukee County owns and runs an inpatient hospital consisting of five licensed, 24-bed units (one of which is for children and adolescents); two nursing home facilities (a 70-bed nursing home for individuals with complex needs who require long-term treatment, and a 72-bed facility for individuals diagnosed with both developmental disability and serious behavioral health needs); a Psychiatric Crisis Service that serves persons in need of emergency mental health treatment, 65% of whom are brought in by law enforcement on an Emergency Detention; a Mental Health Crisis Walk-in Clinic; and, an Observation Unit.

One of the largest programs in Milwaukee County government is its Care Management Organization (CMO). The CMO is an integral component of the Department on Aging’s Family Care program in Milwaukee County, which has been serving county residents age 60 and older since July 2000.

Milwaukee County’s CMO program was one of five pilot Family Care programs launched by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services beginning early in this decade (under Section 46 of the Wisconsin Statutes) with the intent of transforming Wisconsin’s long-term care system for the elderly and for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities. Since the Department on Aging became a Family Care pilot in 2000, it has administered both an aging resource center as well as the sole care management organization for the elderly in Milwaukee County.

Milwaukee County’s Combined Court Related Operations department houses the Milwaukee County Circuit Court system, which consists of 47 circuit court judges and 22 court commissioners. The circuit courts were created to serve as a single, unified trial court under the Court Reorganization Act of 1978, and were adopted after voters passed several amendments to Article VII of the Wisconsin Constitution in 1977. Prior to the reorganization, “county courts” handled probate, juvenile and traffic matters, and the circuit courts handled civil and criminal jury trials.

The circuit courts in Wisconsin are funded with a combination of state and county dollars. Beginning in 1980, circuit court judges and official court reporters became state employees. Today, state funds are used to pay for the salaries of the judges, official court reporters and reserve judges, as well as travel and training for the judges. By law, counties are responsible for all other operating costs (including court commissioner and other support staff salaries, as well as costs associated with housing the courts), with a few exceptions that are enumerated by statute. The state, for example, pays for costs associated with the circuit courts automation program (CCAP), reimburses counties for a portion of court interpreter expenses, and provides circuit court support and guardian ad litem grants to counties to help offset a portion of their costs.

Like the circuit courts, the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office is supported by county government despite the fact the district attorney and other prosecutorial staff are employees of state government. Under Wisconsin Act 31, which was adopted by the state in 1989, the state assumes responsibility for funding the salaries of the district attorney (who is still elected countywide), deputy district attorneys and assistant district attorneys, and responsibility for funding support staff and services is left with the counties.

The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office includes five deputy district attorneys, and approximately 125 assistant district attorneys. The primary function of a district attorney is to represent the State of Wisconsin in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, generally in connection with criminal cases. The office includes a number of specialized units for various offenses, including units for homicides, drug violations, sexual assaults, white collar crimes, domestic violence and consumer fraud. There also are units that prosecute felonies, misdemeanors and offenses involving juveniles.

Milwaukee County government plays a significant role in the community’s cultural scene as owner and financial contributor to several cultural institutions, as well as owner and operator of the Milwaukee County Zoo. Cultural facilities owned, but not operated by the county, include the Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee County War Memorial, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee County Historical Society headquarters, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and the Charles Allis Museum. The county provides annual operating assistance to the non-profit organizations that administer each of these entities and also pays for some or all capital improvements, typically under a memorandum of understanding. The Milwaukee County Zoo, meanwhile, is administered as a typical county department, which means its employees are county employees, and it is subject to the same internal services and charges, budgeting processes, oversight by the county board, etc.

The county also provides lesser amounts of funding to several additional cultural/educational organizations that it does not own, including the Federated Library System, UW Extension, VISIT Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee County Fund for the Performing Arts.

Milwaukee County’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture administers and operates the Milwaukee County Park System. The county park system consists of approximately 15,000 acres of parkland that includes 150 parks, 120 lane miles of park roads and parkways, 15 golf courses, nine outdoor pools, two family aquatic centers, five beaches, 117 tennis courts, 178 picnic areas, 23 major pavilions, 178 athletic fields, the 108-mile Oak Leaf Trail, the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, Boerner Botanical Gardens, McKinley Marina, Wehr Nature Center, and the O’Donnell Park Parking Structure.

In addition to maintaining this immense variety of physical assets, the Parks Department operates or oversees dozens of recreational programs and activities, including 37 organized sports leagues and a variety of aquatics and exercise programs; coordinates activities with dozens of community organizations and more than 40 “friends” groups; and, assists with special events including the Great Circus Parade and Milwaukee Air and Water Show.

Milwaukee County’s Office of the Sheriff is responsible for a wide range of law enforcement activities, many of which are mandated by state statute, and others of which are not mandated but are authorized under state law. The basis for the position itself is Article IV, section four of the Wisconsin Constitution, which establishes the sheriff as an elected county official and specifies that the sheriff’s term of office is four years. Along with most other elected offices, the governor has the power to remove the sheriff (for cause), and also the power to appoint a successor in case the office is vacated prior to an election. Otherwise, the state statutes, and not the constitution, establish a county sheriff’s duties and obligations.

Chapter 59 of the Wisconsin statutes directs the sheriff to “keep and preserve the peace.” The sheriff’s principal duties are to operate the county jail, “attend upon the circuit court,” and serve and execute processes, writs, warrants and other judicial orders.

The Office of the Sheriff is divided into four distinct budgetary programs: administration, emergency management, police services and detention services.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) provides public transit services to the citizens of Milwaukee County. Those services consist of a fixed route system of traditional buses, and a paratransit system of demand-responsive van-based services that are available to persons with disabilities who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Direct management and operation of the transit system is provided by Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc. (MTS), a private non-profit corporation that contracts with the county and is also considered a “legal instrumentality” of the county. This arrangement has existed since 1975, when the county, at its own discretion, acquired ownership of the transit system from a private operator. MTS administers both the traditional fixed route transit service in Milwaukee County and the paratransit services. The system’s equipment and facilities are owned by Milwaukee County, but its approximately 1,100 employees work for MTS and are paid by MTS. MTS employees and retirees are not part of the county’s pension system, nor do they receive health care benefits from the county.

MCTS operates under the purview of the county’s Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW). The DTPW Director’s Office provides oversight over the MTS contract, and prepares and administers federal and state transit grants, while other DTPW personnel assist with the acquisition of capital equipment, and also design and construction for certain transit capital projects.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is one of the largest in county government, with a 2009 adopted budget totaling $198 million and 682 FTEs.

DHHS is comprised of four programmatic divisions: Economic Support, Delinquency and Court Services, Disabilities Services and Housing.

The Department on Aging was created in 1991 to be the designated Area Agency on Aging for Milwaukee County under the Older Americans Act, and to carry out programs for the county’s older adult population. It houses the Aging Resource Center, which serves as the point of entry for Family Care for older adults, and it also provides a network of support services funded through a combination of Older Americans Act funds, and state revenue and property tax levy, including the Senior Meal Program and five county-owned senior centers. The department’s 2009 budget was $19.1 million (including $2.9 million in property tax levy) and 83 FTEs.

The Milwaukee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system was established in the 1970s under Chapter 97 of the Milwaukee County Code of General Ordinances in order to establish a coordinated, countywide approach to providing paramedic and other emergency medical services in the county. Under this coordinated approach, Milwaukee County provides medical direction for the system (through a contract with the Medical College of Wisconsin) and certain centralized support functions, while municipal fire departments deliver actual paramedic services.

The system includes 14 paramedic units and multiple paramedic first response units operated by municipalities; a communications base that provides the communication link between paramedic units, hospitals and medical staff; an education center that provides paramedic training and continuing education; and, other support functions, including quality assurance, supply purchasing and recordkeeping.

In addition to the largest divisions of DTPW – Airport and the Milwaukee County Transit System – other divisions consist primarily of services that support other county operations and those that support state and county highways.

The Department of Child Support Enforcement (CSE) implements and administers federal child support enforcement regulations in Milwaukee County. Those regulations require the department to provide services to locate parents, establish paternity, and enforce and establish child support and medical support orders on cases referred by county, state and private social service agencies. The department’s legal division represents the state before Family Court judges and commissioners.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office (ME) is charged with responsibilities involving the investigation of sudden, unexpected or unusual deaths, detection of communicable diseases, issuance of death certificates, and maintenance of a forensic toxicology laboratory. The position of County Coroner was once a constitutionally required position, but the Legislature adopted a change in 1978, abolishing the elected office of coroner in counties with more than 500,000 citizens (i.e. Milwaukee County), and allowing other counties to do likewise. In place of an elected coroner, counties can establish a system with an appointed medical examiner.

In Milwaukee County, the Election Commission: prepares, prints, distributes and maintains custody of ballots; canvasses and certifies returns; advertises federal, state and countywide elections; and, administers ethics and campaign related oversight functions pertaining to county elected officials.

The Wisconsin Constitution establishes the positions of County Clerk, Register of Deeds and County Treasurer in Milwaukee County (as well as the positions of Sheriff, Clerk of Court and District Attorney).

Source: Public Policy Forum: Should it Stay or Should it Go?, 2010.