Overview
- Milwaukee County prosecutors filed the misdemeanor case on Feb. 25, with a maximum penalty of up to 90 days in jail if convicted.
- The criminal complaint says Ortiz-Velez told colleagues she would share damaging personal details about the resolutions’ author with the media.
- Prosecutors tie the dispute to joint resolutions for Hispanic Heritage Month and for honoring Latino veterans, which Ortiz-Velez believed had excluded her participation.
- Investigators were told she had been invited in June 2025 to help on the heritage measure, declined at the time, and later sought to assist with the language.
- Capitol Police learned of the statements in September 2025, following earlier administrative actions that included a brief Statehouse ban later reversed by Speaker Robin Vos as unfounded and Ortiz-Velez’s withdrawal from the Democratic caucus.