POSTED: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 --- 5:30 p.m.

A Loganville Dairy farmer was in court today after ignoring the state's orders to shut down his operation.

Dozens of his supporters showed up on the courthouse steps to show they're behind him.

This is all about raw milk. The state says Vernon Hershberger can't sell it but he's doing it anyway and now it could land him in jail.

One after another the supporters speak, and make something very clear. If Vernon Hershberger goes down he's not going down alone.

Hershberger says, "It's overwhelming to see the support that is here."

Hershberger is met by the show of support on his way into the Sauk County Courthouse.

Many of his supporters do drink raw milk but he says he even has people in his corner who don't.

Dana Schultz and her husband Phil drove more than two hours, from the Milwaukee area, to be here.

Dana says, "The government should not be telling us what we should put in our bodies."

In June of 2010 the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection raided Hershberger's farm, sealing his coolers and tanks and ordering him to stop selling.

They said it's illegal to sell raw milk, and Hershberger shouldn't be selling anything without a dairy license.

But we were at Hershberger's farm the next day when he broke the seals and began selling again.

According to a criminal complaint, investigators saw our report, went back to the farm and found evidence Hershberger had ignored them.

So Hershberger says he's not surprised to find himself in court today.

In court, Assistant Attorney General Eric Defort said, "He repeatedly continued that process as an example."

Despite facing fines and jail time, being booked into jail and released and told again to stop selling Hershberger maintains what he's doing is not wrong .

He says, "We do not sell to the general public but we do not even sell to members. We only distribute to members who voluntarily put money into the farm to keep the farm going because they actually own part of the cow part of the dairy herd."

Hershberger adds, "I definitely do have worries but what I really want, no matter what happens here today and in the future, I'd like to get a message out to people that truth is truth and from biblical times until now truth has always come out on top."

A pretrial conference has been scheduled and Hershberger is due back in court next month.

He's facing four charges, the most severe punishable by up to 10-thousand dollars in fines or up to one year in jail.

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UPDATED Thursday, December 8, 2011 --- 9:15 a.m.

From the office of the Attorney General:

MADISON — Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced that on December 6, 2011, the Wisconsin Department of Justice, acting as special prosecutor for Sauk County, filed a summons and criminal complaint in Sauk County Circuit Court accusing Vernon D. Hershberger, a Loganville, Sauk County resident, with four counts that relate to the sale of food without a license, as well as producing and processing dairy products without a license and violating a holding order.

According to the criminal complaint, Hershberger was informed in 2007 that the sale of refrigerated or frozen food without a retail food establishment license violated the law but continued to operate a retail food establishment without a license. The criminal complaint further alleged that Hershberger was informed that his milk producer license was going to be considered abandoned if he did not resume shipping milk to a licensed dairy plant. As alleged in the complaint, his license was thereafter revoked. Despite the warning, Hershberger operated as a milk producer without a license. Further, the complaint alleges that Hershberger was operating a dairy plant without a license. Finally, the complaint alleges that a holding order was served on Hershberger which prohibited the sale or movement of specific food products set forth in that holding order. The complaint alleges that Hershberger violated this order by removing food products that were subject to the holding order.

A criminal complaint is a document that alleges that a crime was committed by a person or a corporation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The matter is tentatively scheduled for an initial appearance on January 4, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). Assistant Attorneys General Eric D. Défort and Phillip D. Ferris represent the State of Wisconsin as special prosecutors for the County of Sauk.

A copy of the criminal complaint is available at the following link:

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/news/files/criminal-complaint-hershberger-vernon-20111207.pdf

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POSTED: Thursday, June 3, 2010 --- 6:45 p.m.

One day after his farm is raided and authorities tell him to shut things down a local farmer is still selling raw milk.

He says it's his right and he's risking the penalties.

Vernon Hershberger doesn't know what will happen next and he's very aware he could be in some big trouble.

Nevertheless he's ignoring state orders and reopening his Loganville business.

Today customers were once again lining up to get raw milk and other dairy products from Hershberger's farm despite the fact that yesterday morning the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection got a warrant to search his farm and sealed several coolers, ordering him to stop selling raw milk and close his store.

Hershberger says, "We believe this is our right to do this and we have a lot of families that feel that way. There are a lot of families that will go without food that they need to have for their families if we shut down."

DATCP Administrator Steven Ingham says, "We're not in the business of shutting down farmers and ruining people's lives but we are a public health agency and the public expects us to look after food."

Hershberger also argues that he is only open to members who pay annual fees, not the general public, so he doesn't need a dairy license.

One thing that is important to note is even if Governor Doyle had signed a raw milk bill into law last month Hershberger would have still been breaking the law because he doesn't have that dairy license.

It will be up to the Sauk County District Attorney to determine if any charges are filed.