Unsealed court documents show that authorities are investigating whether Milwaukee Public Schools board member Darryl Jackson lived in the district he represents.
Jackson, 44, has not been charged with a crime, but an August 2024 search warrant that was recently unsealed by a judge indicates the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office looked into a tip he was living in MPS District 2 — outside of District 3, which he was elected to represent in 2023.
District 3 covers much of Milwaukee’s central north side. District 2 is immediately to the west and encompasses an area that stretches from Silver Spring Drive in the north to Juneau Avenue in the south.
Efforts to reach Jackson on June 25 were unsuccessful.
Investigators gathered sworn witness statements and monitored where Jackson’s gray Chevy Suburban was parked to establish where Jackson actually lived, the warrant says. They also used cell phone data that incorporated timestamps of when it connected to a tower and the tower’s location as part of their probe, the document reads.
His campaign forms listed an address near North 100th Street and West Lisbon Avenue, which is outside District 3, as his home. According to the Milwaukee Election Commission, a candidate is permitted to live outside their district until their elected term starts.
Investigators said they saw Jackson’s vehicle only near 100th and Lisbon, in District 2, between April 2023 and August 2024. It was not seen at a home near North 50th and West Hadley, in District 3, where he claimed to live, the document said.
How do officials verify MPS candidates’ addresses?
They don’t.
Milwaukee officials said they do not verify that school board candidates live in the region of the city they are elected to represent, relying on complaints from the public to catch any issues.
Milwaukee’s system is complicated by the fact that school board candidates are not required to live in the region they’re campaigning to represent until they take office, according to City Clerk Jim Owczarski.
Multiple school board candidates have taken advantage of that allowance in recent years, including former board member Aisha Carr and Jackson — both of whom said during their campaigns that they would move to their districts before taking office.
This isn’t the first time a school board member’s address has invited scrutiny
A similar investigation of Carr was conducted last year examining her time as District 4 board director, from 2021 until May 2024, when she abruptly resigned.
At the center of that probe were allegations she lived outside the district she represented. Carr was charged with misconduct in office and theft by false representation, both felonies. She also was charged in a separate case with campaign finance violations. She has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
She is expected to appear in court on Sept. 5.
Elsewhere in the state, the Brown County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a complaint that former Green Bay School Board member Kou Lee didn’t live at the address he listed on his campaign filings.
Reporter Rory Linnane contributed to this article.
Christopher Ramirez covers courts for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be contacted at caramirez@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Authorities investigate whether MPS board member Darryl Jackson lives in the district he represents
Reporting by Chris Ramirez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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