NEWS BLOG (WSAU) Did she get special treatment? That’s the $64,000 question surrounding the criminal case against Kim Hoenisch. She’s the wife of Marathon County Sheriff Randy Heonisch. She was a parole officer, and ran afoul of the law when she was caught stealing pain-killers from the ex-cons she supervised.

From the moment she was charged, many people have suspected that Kim Heonisch might get special treatment. You can argue that she has. She didn’t go through the formal booking process that’s typical when someone’s charged with a felony. Instead she was allowed to voluntarily present herself at the courthouse for her initial court appearance. She was freed on signature bond, and was allowed to go home after the charges against her were presented. If a mug shot exists of her, its never been released to the media. All of these things are unusual but not unprecedented.

Because she worked in the Corrections Department and because her husband is in law enforcement, a special prosecutor was named to handle the case. An out-of-county judge was also appointed. Both of those moves are in favor of rule-of-law and make it less likely that she’d receive special treatment.

I don’t read anything into her plea bargain. The charges against her would have led to conviction at trial. Her ‘no contest’ plea concedes that. The back-story sounds like someone who is addicted to pain meds and will do anything to get their hands on them.

There’s one missing piece to this puzzle before I could say definitely if Kim Hoenisch receives special treatment: will she get jail time? She should. She broke into people’s homes to steal their medication. Her victims were people she had immense power over as a parole officer. These are acts that would land anyone behind bars.

We won’t know her sentence until April. She’s the recipient of special treatment if she somehow escapes incarceration.

Chris Conley
1.29.13