I guess it just depends on what you mean by "very recent," to me that would mean at most 5 years ago (and really I'd think more recently than that because all I can think about when I hear Wisconsin is the 'Making a Murderer' clusterfuck).
I measure governments in terms of "politician generations", so 5-10 years is still "the present" in the sense that anything less than 10 years can very easily encapsulate just a single set of people in leadership.
They bring up a lot of the missing evidence in the second season. You're allowed to draw your own conclusion from the case, but it's obvious to me the whole thing wasn't just bullshit but that the police department coordinated a coverup for a murder. Even if that wasn't the case, they violated so many laws by illegally ignoring proper procedure that the sheriff, district attorney, and interrogating officers should all lose their jobs and potentially face criminal charges.