Defense win: COA reverses protective placement due to insufficient evidence of condition causing incapacity
Calumet County v. S.A., 2026AP1076, 10/7/26, District II (ineligible for publication); case activity
COA reverses S.A.’s protective placement, concluding that the county failed to present sufficient evidence that her incapacity is a result of developmental disability, degenerative brain disorder,
serious and persistent mental illness, or other like incapacities.
SA already resided at an assisted living facility, but issues arose due to her habit of leaving without any plan for her medications or return, she had unpaid bills, and she sometimes refused to leave her room, which “overflowed with boxes.” (¶¶1-3). The county petitioned for guardianship and a protective placement, claiming that S.A. was needed a protective placement due to her incapacity from a developmental disability. (¶8).
However, no one testified at the protective placement hearing that any condition listed in the statute–developmental disability, degenerative brain disorder, serious and persistent mental illness, or other like incapacities, WIS. STAT. § 55.08(1)(c)–was causing S.A.’s incapacity. The doctor Calumet assigned to evaluate S.A. declined to diagnose S.A. beyond noting a level of “cognitive impairment.” COA reasons, that “[c]ognitive impairment or not, a court cannot simply assume the existence of a causative condition like intellectual disability.” (¶10).
COA also declines to affirm on an alternative basis. The county argues that COA should do so under the “other like incapacities” category, but the court concludes that the issue of S.A.’s lack of official diagnosis remains. The county does not identify which of the listed causes produces S.A.’s cognitive impairment and there is no evidence in the record to support a specific cause or diagnosis. (¶11).