Opinion ID: 1868491
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: County power

Text: ¶ 15 The County relies heavily on its home rule power set out in Wis. Stat. § 59.03(1) as support for its use of other statutes in ways not explicitly set out in those statutes, e.g., its attempt to use Wis. Stat. § 75.22. Before we address the County's home rule power, a review of the source of county power is helpful. ¶ 16 A county is a creature of the legislature and as such, it has only those powers that the legislature by statute provided. Wis. Const. art. IV, § 22. For more than a century, Wisconsin courts consistently have interpreted counties' powers as arising solely from the statutes: Counties are, at most, but local organizations, which, for the purposes of civil administration, are invested with a few functions characteristic of a corporate existence . . . . [T]he statutes confer upon them all the powers they possess. Frederick v. Douglas County, 96 Wis. 411, 416-17, 71 N.W. 798 (1897) (citations omitted). We have held that counties exist for, and derive their powers from, the state, through legislation. State ex rel. Conway v. Elvod, 70 Wis.2d 448, 450, 234 N.W.2d 354 (1975) (explaining that a county is totally a creature of the legislature, and its powers must be exercised within the scope of authority ceded to it by the state); Kyncl v. Kenosha County, 37 Wis.2d 547, 555, 155 N.W.2d 583 (1968) (citation omitted) (explaining that a county exists not by virtue of its own will or consent, but as a result of the superimposed will of the state); Douglas County v. Indus. Comm'n, 275 Wis. 309, 313-14, 81 N.W.2d 807 (1957) (citations omitted) (pointing out that [c]ounties, like other municipal corporations, are mere instrumentalities of the state, and statutes confer upon them their powers, prescribe their duties, and impose their liabilities); Spaulding v. Wood County, 218 Wis. 224, 226, 260 N.W. 473 (1935) (citations omitted) (explaining that a county has only such powers as are conferred upon [it] by statute, or such as are necessarily implied therefrom). ¶ 17 A county's home rule power is more limited than the home rule power that is afforded to cities; as we explained, contrary to the direct and expansive delegation of power to municipalities under Wis. Const. art. XI, § 3, the authority of county boards is limited. State ex rel. Teunas v. County of Kenosha, 142 Wis.2d 498, 504, 418 N.W.2d 833 (1988) (footnote omitted). Accordingly, the County's power to rescind a tax deed under the circumstances presented by this case must be found in a statute or necessarily be implied from a statute, in order for that power to exist.