Leon Todd, Executive Director

Leon Todd was born and raised in the Sherman Park Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Todd attended Milwaukee Public Schools and graduated from Riverside University High School.  He attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated in 2000 with a degree in political science.  Todd went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2004, where he was a managing editor of the Wisconsin Law Review and interned for the Legal Assistance to Incarcerated People (LAIP) Project.

Todd began his legal career as a litigation associate with Foley & Lardner, where he practiced in the areas of contract, insurance, and product liability law.  In 2009, he left his commercial litigation practice to become an attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin.  In that position, Todd represented low-income clients in the areas of housing, family, public benefits, and consumer law.  Todd later became an Assistant State Public Defender for the Office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Appellate Division, where he represented clients who were incarcerated throughout the state and argued numerous cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In 2020, Mayor Tom Barrett appointed Todd as Executive Director of the Fire and Police Commission (FPC).  As Executive Director, Todd manages the daily business of the FPC, which includes monitoring the operations of the Milwaukee Police and Fire Departments and Department of Emergency Communications; the recruitment and hiring of police officers, firefighters, and 911 call-takers and dispatchers; as well as the FPC’s continuing efforts to promote constitutional policing in the city of Milwaukee.  In this role, Todd also oversees the operations of the Office of Emergency Management and manages the FPC’s citizen complaint program, which conducts independent investigations into alleged misconduct by employees of the public safety departments.

Todd continues to serve on the board of directors for Legal Action of Wisconsin, which works to deliver high-quality civil legal services to those most in need and facilitate equal access to justice.

He currently lives on the Eastside of Milwaukee with his wife, Nichole, and their two daughters, Jane and Juliet.