Public records show that Eaton County Drain Commissioner Richard Wagner — father of Casey Wagner — accepted campaign contributions from attorneys and engineers employed at firms that receive substantial county drain contracts. A drain attorney at Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC donated $500 to Wagner’s campaign while her firm received $8,868.50 in county payments. A Spicer Group employee donated $2,100 while the firm received $194,592.97 from the county. Richard Wagner has previously acknowledged the contributions and provided justifications. The ethical question is bigger than the legal box-checking.
In local government, trust is the bedrock. But what happens when the people who do business with your county — and stand to profit from your tax dollars — are writing campaign checks to the very officials who hire them?
That’s the situation documented in Eaton County, Michigan.
Records show that Richard Wagner, the Eaton County Drain Commissioner — and father of Casey Wagner — accepted campaign contributions from Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC, a law firm that regularly contracts with the county for drain-related work.
The Paper Trail
The record starts in 2022, where an attorney from Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes attends the Appeals Board to discuss a Hemp Farm matter on behalf of a county client. It continues into the county’s February 2024 disbursement report, which shows Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC receiving a payment of $8,868.50 for legal services.
Campaign finance records reveal that Stacy L. Hissong, a drain attorney at that same firm, donated $500 to Wagner’s campaign for drain commissioner. A June 2025 major transaction in Eaton County continues that pattern.
Richard Wagner admits to these contributions and excuses them away. This is not his first foray into problematic campaign finance records.
The Structural Problem
On paper, this may be legal. Michigan law allows campaign donations from businesses and individuals who do business with government. But the ethical concerns are larger than the legal box-checking.
When a drain commissioner accepts money from an attorney whose firm gets drain contracts, it creates at minimum an appearance of impropriety. It raises fair questions about whether contract awards are truly independent of who funds campaigns. And it can undermine public trust in the fairness and transparency of local government procurement in ways that no legal disclaimer resolves.
Those who rely on drain contracts help keep the drain commissioner in office. The drain commissioner keeps approving drain work. Taxpayers pick up the tab — often without realizing who’s cutting checks to whom behind the scenes. The loop is self-reinforcing and the public rarely has the documentation to see it.
The fact that Richard Wagner is the father of Casey Wagner — whose conduct in Ionia County is the subject of an extended Clutch Justice investigation — is relevant context for understanding how family networks and institutional leverage function in small-county Michigan governance.
What Accountability Requires
Ask your drain commissioner and county officials to publicly disclose any campaign contributions from contractors or their employees. The information is technically available in campaign finance records, but most residents have no mechanism to connect it to county disbursement data. That connection should not require investigative journalism.
Stronger local ethics rules can ban or limit campaign contributions from companies or individuals who do business with the county. Several Michigan counties and municipalities have adopted such rules. The fact that Michigan law permits these contributions does not prevent local governments from adopting higher standards.
Look at who funds your local officials — and who profits once they’re in office. Campaign finance records are public documents. Drain commissioner races, county commissioner races, and township board races typically have little public scrutiny. They are also the races where this kind of closed-loop funding pattern is most likely to operate undisturbed.
Drain dollars shouldn’t drown out public trust. Got tips or documents? Share them with Clutch. The public deserves to know.
