Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Family members of a self-proclaimed church in Tigerton once associated with the Posse Comitatus are embroiled in a legal dispute over the fate of property that was once seized by Shawano County.
A civil suit was filed last week by Life Science Church and trustee James Minniecheske against two other church trustees, Judith Minniecheske and JoAnn Redman, and a third party, Jane Dedolph, all identified as James Minniecheske’s sisters.
The suit claims church property was improperly transferred to the defendants for their personal gain and seeks $369,500 in damages.
According to the suit, the Life Science Church was chartered in Wisconsin under state statutes in 1976.
However, the church has never been legally recognized as a tax-exempt religious entity.
In the early 1980s, the church attempted to incorporate into its own township to be called Tigerton Dells. The township was never recognized as a legal entity, though the civil complaint lists the church as being located in Tigerton Dells.
In a federal court ruling in 1989, Senior Judge Robert Warren called the church a sham entity, according to federal court records. He ordered founder Donald Minniecheske and his wife, Sally Minniecheske, to pay back taxes on the property.
Donald Minniecheske, who was listed as the president and primary trustee of the church, passed away in June 2015. His son, James, became president and primary trustee in February, according to the suit.
That same month, the civil complaint claims, Judith Minniecheske and JoAnn Redman, “purporting to act on behalf of the church,” signed and recorded a quit claim deed that transferred church property to them and to Dedolph.
The suit claims no meeting of the trustees had been held and other Life Science Church members were not informed, in violation of church bylaws.
“The LSC was never disbanded or dissolved,” according to the civil suit, “and LSC continues to own personal property in its name.”
According to the complaint, the real estate in question includes five parcels totaling more than 500 acres.
Judith Minniecheske resides on one of those parcels, according to the suit. Another parcel is listed as the business office for the church.
The suit also contends that James Minniecheske was locked out of the church building after the property transfer, and that two other family members were locked out of businesses they operated on the property.
The suit maintains the church has not been able to continue day-to-day operations since the property transfer, including responding to mail, paying bills, and making plans for programs and camps on the property.
Four of the parcels in question were seized by Shawano County in a tax foreclosure in 1986, but were ultimately re-purchased and deeded back to the church, according to the civil suit.
In addition to the real estate, valued at $209,500, the suit claims the defendants also seized vehicles belonging to the church, including a semi truck, dump truck, a tractor and miscellaneous other vehicles.
The Minniecheske family and others involved in the group, which was also known as the Wisconsin branch of the Posse Comitatus, had a long-running battle with local and federal government officials. Posse Comitatus was an organization that opposed taxes and bureaucratic regulation in the 1970s.
A settlement of house trailers near a rural Tigerton tavern owned by the Minniecheskes was raided by authorities in 1985. Many trailers, violating what officials called a local zoning ordinance, were towed away.
Authorities accused members of giving property to the Life Science Church to make the property immune from taxes.