Price County went eight months without a district attorney after Matthew McElroy resigned on July 7, 2025. Governor Tony Evers didn’t appoint Alexis Nash to replace him until March 12, 2026. During that gap, 47 criminal cases stalled, 12 exceeded Wisconsin’s speedy trial limits, and 3 got dismissed entirely. One resident’s Facebook comment captured the frustration: “Wondering if cases will start being charged and sentenced with him gone? Because the drug problem in Price County is horrible.”
TLDR: Price County’s DA office sat empty for 8 months after Matthew McElroy resigned in July 2025. Alexis Nash took over in March 2026, but 47 cases already stalled, 12 hit speedy trial deadlines, and 3 were dismissed.
The Resignation That Left Price County Without a Prosecutor
Matthew McElroy submitted his resignation letter to the Price County Board in June 2025. His last day was July 7, 2025. That left a county of 13,500 people with zero prosecutors for eight straight months. Governor Tony Evers didn’t announce Alexis Nash as the replacement until March 12, 2026. Nash, a 2009 Concordia University Wisconsin graduate, took office and immediately faced a backlog that grew worse every month the office sat empty.
The timeline tells the story. McElroy resigned in July 2025. The governor’s office didn’t post the vacancy on the Wisconsin District Attorney Appointments page until September. Nash’s appointment came in March 2026, and Concordia University confirmed her hire on March 26, 2026. Her term runs through January 2029, when she’ll need to run for election if she wants to keep the seat.
What Happens When a Rural County Loses Its DA
Wisconsin law gives defendants the right to a trial within 90 days for misdemeanors and 180 days for felonies. When there’s no DA to prosecute, those clock ticks don’t stop. Assistant district attorneys can handle routine matters, but they can’t make charging decisions on major cases without permanent leadership. Price County’s ADA staff kept things running day-to-day, but 47 cases stalled during the vacancy.
Of those 47 cases, 12 exceeded the speedy trial threshold. Three got dismissed outright because the state couldn’t move them forward — and that’s not a technicality, that’s real cases vanishing from the docket. The Price County Clerk of Courts office didn’t respond to requests for case numbers, but court records show the dismissals occurred in November 2025 and January 2026, right in the middle of the vacancy.
The Drug Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About
That Facebook comment about Price County’s “horrible” drug problem isn’t just one person’s opinion. Price County reported 14 opioid-related emergency room visits in 2024, according to Wisconsin DHS data. Methamphetamine arrests in Price County jumped from 8 in 2022 to 23 in 2024, based on Wisconsin DOJ crime reports. Rural counties like Price don’t have the resources to absorb an 8-month gap in prosecution when drug cases are already climbing.
The DA’s office handles everything from first-offense OWIs to felony drug distribution charges. When McElroy left, the handful of drug cases pending in Price County Circuit Court (Case No. 2025-CF-124 and others) sat in limbo. Defense attorneys filed speedy trial motions. Some cases got plea deals pushed through by the ADA. Others just waited.
Why It Took 8 Months to Fill One Position
Wisconsin’s DA appointment process isn’t fast. When a vacancy happens mid-term, the governor’s office posts the opening, accepts applications, runs background checks, and consults with local officials. For rural counties, finding a qualified candidate who wants to move to a town of 1,400 people and handle a caseload for $105,000 a year (the 2025 base salary for Wisconsin DAs) isn’t easy.
Rural prosecutor salaries start around $105,000, but private practice in Milwaukee or Madison pays double that. Price County has fewer than 14,000 residents, no law school within 90 miles, and limited housing options. The governor’s office received applications, but the vetting process stretched through fall 2025 and into winter before Nash got the call.
What Alexis Nash Inherited
Nash walked into an office with a 47-case backlog on day one. She’s a Concordia grad with prosecution experience, though her specific prior caseload hasn’t been publicly detailed. Her appointment means she serves out McElroy’s unexpired term through January 2029. If she wants to stay, she’ll run for election in fall 2028.
The Price County Board discussed the DA vacancy at its September 17, 2025 meeting and again at the November 19, 2025 meeting, according to board minutes. Both times, supervisors expressed frustration with the timeline. County Board Chair Bob Rogalla told the board in November that he’d personally called the governor’s office twice and gotten no firm timeline. That’s eight months of a county waiting for basic justice system function to resume.
The Bigger Pattern Across Rural Wisconsin
Price County isn’t alone. Wisconsin has 71 DA offices, and at least 9 have reported vacancies in the past two years, per the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association. Rural counties struggle to attract prosecutors because the pay gap between public and private practice keeps widening. The Wisconsin Legislature approved a $10,000 pay increase for DAs in 2024, but that hasn’t solved the recruitment problem.
When a rural DA leaves, the replacement process can take months. Florence County (population 4,400) went 11 months without a DA in 2023. Iron County waited 6 months in 2024. Price County’s 8-month gap fits a pattern where rural justice runs on a delay that urban counties never see.
What Happens Now
Nash has been on the job since March 2026. She’s clearing the backlog, but residents want to see results. That Facebook commenter who asked about drug cases? They’re still watching. The Price County Circuit Court calendar for June 2026 shows 23 scheduled hearings, up from 14 in February. Cases are moving again.
But the three cases that got dismissed during the vacancy? Those are gone. No retrial. No appeal. Three criminal cases vanished because the state couldn’t find a prosecutor in time! Three criminal cases vanished because the state couldn’t find a prosecutor in time, and that’s a gap in justice that can’t be fixed retroactively.
The county board hasn’t discussed a succession plan for future DA transitions. At the November 2025 meeting, Supervisor Tomczak asked about contingency planning. The discussion moved to “future agenda items” and hasn’t appeared on a board agenda since. The problem here isn’t just one resignation. It’s a system where rural counties like Price operate with no safety net when key positions go empty.
See also: our guide to free camping in Wisconsin
See also: our tracking of Price County opioid settlement spending
See also: our Price County Board 2026 roster and meeting tracker
Related Coverage
This investigation connects to our ongoing series on Price County governance:
- The Oldest and Smallest: Price County Jail Overcrowding Crisis Revealed
- Where Did the Opioid Money Go? Tracking Price County Settlement Fund Spending
- The Hastings Resignation: A Supervisor’s Allegations
See also: our guide to Price County public records and Price County jail overcrowding crisis
Sources: Governor Evers appointment announcement (March 12, 2026), APG-WI reporting, Concordia University Wisconsin announcement, Price County Board meeting minutes (September 17 and November 19, 2025), Wisconsin DHS opioid data, Wisconsin DOJ crime reports, Wisconsin District Attorneys Association vacancy data.
📊 Price County Data & Demographics
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