Resident makes complaint about sheriff‘s speeding ticket

Even law enforcement officers occasionally get speeding tickets.

Taylor County sheriff Larry Woebbeking received a traffic ticket for speeding 11-15 mph over the speed limit while driving on Hwy 29 in Chippewa County on December 10. The ticket was issued by the Wisconsin State Patrol.

The ticket carries a penalty of a forfeiture of $200.50, which Woebbeking indicated he does not intend to contest and said it has been paid. The court date on the ticket is February 6. Woebbeking said he was driving his sheriff’s department vehicle at the time he was stopped. Under county policies, the sheriff is considered to be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is authorized to drive the vehicle at his discretion. He indicated he was on his way back from a meeting when he was stopped and that at no time during the traffic stop did he try to get out of the speeding ticket in any way.

At 10:17 p.m. on Dec. 14 Ben Greiner of Rib Lake sent an email with information about the ticket to multiple county board members, law enforcement officials and media organizations.

In the email, Greiner included a screen shot of Woebbeking’s social media page which showed him with a woman and the status that he was in a relationship. In addition, he attached as a screen shot of a social media page of a woman which indicates she lives in Eau Claire. In his email Greiner states the woman lives in or near Chippewa County.

Greiner’s email states: “What was Woebbeking doing in a government vehicle, in another county, on a Sunday?”

“I believe this event deserves attention from the County’s board of supervisors, the Sheriff’s Office, and local media, and I request that you investigate as your duties require. If a “complaint” is needed please consider this to be one,” Greiner wrote.

The sheriff is an elected position. Woebbeking started his second term of office in January 2023 and will be up for reelection in November 2026.