Wisconsin school superintendent faces third drunk driving conviction

BARRON, Wis. — A western Wisconsin school superintendent is facing his second drunk driving-related criminal charge in just four months.

The Barron County Attorney's Office says 56-year-old Barry Rose was charged on July 2 with his third OWI (operating while intoxicated) and a count of operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license.

Rose is from Cumberland, about an hour east of Taylors Falls, Minnesota. He leads the Cumberland School District.

According to the criminal complaint, Rose was pulled over on the night of June 22 for speeding near Eighth Avenue and William Street. A Cumberland police officer reported Rose's vehicle emitted a "heavy odor of intoxicants," his speech was slurred and his eyes were glossy.

Rose then failed the field sobriety test before blowing a .126 BAC, which is well above the state's legal limit. He allegedly told the officer he had been drinking "earlier that afternoon," according to the complaint.

Rose was also driving after 9 p.m., which is prohibited due to his previous OWI convictions in Wisconsin: one from 1997 in Outagamie County, and one from this February in Dunn County, the complaint states.

WCCO reached out to the school district for a comment on Rose's latest case. The district's attorney noted that while they're aware of Rose's criminal record, Wisconsin is one of "the few jurisdictions that treats those with an arrest/conviction record as a protected group under our discrimination laws," and, "off-duty conduct is a gray area for Wisconsin employers."

Rose is scheduled to make his first court appearance in this case on Sept. 11.