Madison – State Treasurer John Leiber announced his agreement with a court decision today that found the diversion of millions of dollars from the Common School Fund to Milwaukee County was unconstitutional. A Waukesha circuit court today heard arguments on a motion in the Stueland v Cullen lawsuit, finding that the provision in the last state budget to allow the diversion of funds was unconstitutional.

“This ruling is an important step in defending the integrity of the Common School Fund and protecting taxpayers across Wisconsin,” Treasurer Leiber said. “Raiding this fund to give a handout to Milwaukee County government hurts every single school district in the state and I hope this decision prevents county governments from trying this again in future state budgets.”

Treasurer Leiber serves on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which manages the Common School Fund. The Common School Fund was established by Wisconsin’s founders in Article X of the State Constitution as a permanent school trust fund. The state’s constitution provides that the Fund receives clear proceeds of all fees, fines and forfeitures that accrue to the state. The Common School Fund currently manages over $1.6 billion in assets and distributed $73.5 million in aid to school districts in 2026.

A 2025-2027 budget provision called for diversion of an estimated $2.2 million per year from the Common School Fund revenues to fund Milwaukee County government. Wisconsin statute 59.25(j)(c) is the provision that allowed diversion of the fines and forfeitures to Milwaukee County.