Section 164.06. Officers may be candidates.

 

(1)  In this section, “law enforcement officer" means any person employed by a city, village, town or county, other than a 1st class city or a county having a population of 500,000 or more, for the purpose of detecting and preventing crime and enforcing laws or ordinances, who is authorized to make arrests for violations of the laws or ordinances which he or she is employed to enforce.

(2)  No city, village, town or county may prohibit a law enforcement officer from being a candidate for any elective public office, if that law enforcement officer is otherwise qualified to be a candidate. No law enforcement officer may be required, as a condition of being a candidate for any elective public office, to take a leave of absence during his or her candidacy. This section does not affect the authority of a city, village, town or county to regulate the conduct of a law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is on duty or otherwise acting in an official capacity.

1987 a. 350 .