Cass Cousins takes lead in Portage Co. DA’s Office

By Brandi Makuski

Portage Co. has a new district attorney for the first time since 2013.

Cass Cousins was sworn into his new role as the top prosecutor in the county by retired Judge Thomas Eagon on Aug. 12. The ceremony was emceed by Reserve Judge Thomas Fluguar, who retired from Branch III in late 2020.

Fluguar would later remark that he was sitting on the bench when Cousins was hired by Eagon, who previously served the county as district attorney.

“He was new, he was young, I got to watch him grow up before my eyes,” Fluguar said. “He’s become a highly respected person in the justice system.”

Sitting in the packed courtroom were numerous members of local law enforcement, county staff, and Cousins’ family. Several also attended the ceremony virtually in an overflow room.

Cousins was assistant district attorney in Portage Co. from 2011-18 before taking a job as assistant attorney general under Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul. Cousins has prosecuted homicides, drug smuggling, and sexual assault cases, among others.

Cousins applied for the vacancy shortly after learning that former District Attorney Louis Molepske, Jr. won the election for Branch II and would be vacating his office. Gov. Tony Evers announced in June that Cousins was being appointed to fill the remainder of Molepske’s term, which ends in January 2025.

Cousins was welcomed back to Portage Co. by Molepske, and Branch III Judge Patricia Baker, who was appointed to her role in 2020. Her current term expires in 2028.

Molepske said Cousins was an essential part of the district attorney’s office when the two worked together, saying during his remarks, “You did excellent work in the attorney general’s office and we are very glad you decided to come back.”

Eagon also shared his impressions of Cousins’ work over the years and said he believes Cousins will do the job well.

“DAs are the ones who are the good guys in the system, and they have to follow the rules. DAs aren’t allowed to take shortcuts. And while they are entitled to make strong blows in the interest of justice, all those blows must be fair. Cass will be fair,” Eagon said.

Eagon then administered the oath of office to Cousins.

After thanking those in attendance, Cousins laid out his goals for the DA’s office. Among them are working with various judicial groups to determine “solutions and improvements” to the existing cash bail system while “balancing the need to prevent unnecessary pretrial incarceration while also making sure the public is safe from violent or habitual offenders working their way through the system.”

Cousins also wants to provide better public education to better inform the masses about what bail is and how it’s meant to be used in the court system.

He also plans to continue the county’s diversion program, which allows first-time offenders opportunities to avoid a permanent charge appearing on their records.

“I wanted to be a district attorney because I felt it was the next step in my evolution as a prosecutor,” he said. “Working with you all again is something I look forward to very much.”

Cousins lives in Stevens Point with his wife and son.