Kenosha's Common Council voted 16-0 on Monday evening, Oct. 19, to confirm Police Chief Patrick Patton as the city's next administrator, with one alderman absent from the vote.
Patton, 43, is scheduled to start the civilian job on Jan. 1, 2027, taking over from retiring City Administrator John Morrissey. Mayor David Bogdala had announced Patton's selection five days earlier, after a recruitment process that drew interest from a number of candidates.
His move to City Hall caps more than 20 years in a Kenosha uniform. Patton joined the police department on Jan. 3, 2006, and worked his way up through detective, sergeant, lieutenant and captain before becoming chief on Jan. 1, 2023 — the youngest chief in city history.
Before Kenosha, Patton served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2001 to 2009, including service in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and left the service as a sergeant. As chief, he oversaw the department's first full accreditation by the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group.
City documents put Patton's starting pay as administrator at $216,612 a year, with a 12-month probationary period. At the police department, Deputy Chief Brent Sagedal has agreed to delay his planned retirement to lead day-to-day operations during the transition, while the Police and Fire Commission prepares to search for a permanent chief in 2027.
