Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling first took office in January 2011 and has served four consecutive four-year terms. As he prepares to leave the job, a Kenosha County Eye profile published Nov. 9 reviewed his time in office, including his private business interests and questions raised during his tenure. Schmaling did not respond to two requests from the outlet seeking comment for the profile.
Public property records in Collier County, Florida, list two Marco Island transactions under Schmaling's name totaling about $1.19 million while he was in office. One, in the zero hundred block of North Collier Boulevard, shows a sale date of May 30, 2023, and a recorded amount of $800,000. The other, in the 1000 block of Anglers Cove, shows a sale date of Oct. 15, 2024, and a recorded amount of $390,000. The profile notes the records do not establish whether he still owns both properties, how they were financed, or whether they produce rental income.
The profile also describes Shield Protective Services, a Racine-based private security company founded in 2015, during Schmaling's second term, that advertises corporate and residential security work in the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor using staff with law enforcement or military backgrounds. It notes the company's website does not by itself establish Schmaling's ownership or financial interest, and that his reported work as a real estate agent has not been independently verified for licensing, hours or transaction history.
On personal conduct, the profile cites a 2018 Kenosha Police Department investigation in which Kelly Kruse's then-husband told investigators he had found messages on her phone that he believed suggested an intimate relationship with Schmaling. Kruse, a former Racine County Board supervisor and former Downtown Racine Corporation executive director, denied any relationship beyond friendship and denied that Schmaling influenced her appointment to the County Board. The profile states the actual messages were not in the materials it reviewed and have not been independently authenticated, and that Schmaling's silence does not establish the allegation is true.
The profile also recounts two personnel cases. Captain Cary Madrigal previously received a 10-day unpaid suspension over her handling of misconduct allegations involving former Deputy Preston Kite, who was later convicted of sexual offenses involving minors, and she was placed on paid administrative leave in November 2026 after an unsuccessful campaign for sheriff that Schmaling had supported. Deputy Emil Ortiz was demoted from detective and suspended 10 days after using Flock license plate reader technology to monitor his girlfriend's former boyfriend, a case that later became the subject of a John Doe petition.
The profile states that the documented property transactions, the disciplinary records, and the 2018 allegation do not, on their own, establish that Schmaling committed a crime or used his office for financial gain. It presents them instead as part of a wider public discussion, as he leaves office, about his personnel decisions, private interests and legacy after 16 years.
