Ken Kratz

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1983 and Marquette Law School in 1985, Kratz was admitted to the bar and licensed to practice law in Wisconsin. He worked in the La Crosse, Wisconsin City Attorney's Office from 1985 to 1987. He served as an assistant district attorney in La Crosse County, Wisconsin from 1987 to 1992.

Kratz was appointed district attorney of Calumet County by Governor Tommy Thompson. He served as president of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association in 1996. Kratz chaired the Wisconsin Victim Rights Council in 1993 as well as its successor, the Wisconsin Crime Victims Rights Board, from 1998 to 2010.

In 1997, Kratz prosecuted a prominent child abuse case, in which parents allegedly locked their daughter in a cage. The mother pleaded guilty. In 2008, Kratz explored a run for the Republican nomination in Wisconsin's 6th congressional district.

Kratz was appointed special prosecutor and headed the investigation and prosecution of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey in neighboring Manitowoc County for the murder of Teresa Halbach on October 31, 2005. Manitowoc County officials had recused their Sheriff's department because it was being sued by Avery for wrongful conviction, following his exoneration in 2003 of a 1985 conviction.

Kratz gained convictions of both defendants in trials in 2007. Avery was sentenced to life without parole. Dassey, then 17-years-old, was sentenced to life, with no parole before he reached the age of 56. Dassey's conviction was provisionally overturned in August 2016, subject to appellate review.

Kratz's role in the Steven Avery case was documented in the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer. Kratz did not cooperate with the producers or interview in the series. He later criticized them, saying they had left out key pieces of evidence.