Page View
Toepel, M. G.; Theobald, H. Rupert (ed.) / The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1962
(1962)
Judicial branch, pp. [549]-564
PDF (4.4 MB)
Page 551
WISCONSIN COURTS As reorganized, Wisconsin's court system will consist of a Supreme Court, circuit courts, county courts, municipal justice of the peace courts, and constitutional justices of the peace. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and circuit courts remain unchanged. The most significant change in the reorganization was the abolition of the special statutory courts (municipal, district, superior, civil, and small claims). All the separate acts relating to the county courts were repealed and the county court was established with uniform jurisdiction and procedure throughout the state. Where-the special courts operated full-time and had a full-time judge presiding, a branch of county court has now been created to absorb and continue their function. Thus, no county should suffer a reduction in judicial service because of the abolition of a special court since the function will be carried on by a branch of the county court. Another major change in the reorganization was to reduce the jurisdiction of the justice of peace by removing such civil actions as recovery of property, unlawful detainer, matters of garnishment and attachment, and penalties and forfeitures. Criminal jurisdiction is limited to prosecutions for battery and disorderly conduct. While the jurisdiction of justice of peace may be limited, the office itself cannot be abolished except by constitutional amendment. A third important change was to provide machinery to administer the court system. One of the problems under the old system was that the case load was uneven - heavy in some areas and light in other areas. Sometimes, too, the work load was not evenly dis- tributed between the judges of a single area. Chapter 315, Laws 1959, provides machinery to improve the efficiency of the courts. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is authorized to assign cir- cuit and county judges to serve temporarily in either the circuit or county courts when needed. The 1961 Legislature took one step further and established the office of court administrator (Chapter 261). The administrator is to assist the Chief Justice in the admin- istration of the courts and to perform such duties as are required by the court. Judges Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the circuit court and county court are elected on a nonpartisan basis in April. When 3 or more candidates file nomination papers for an office of judge- ship, a primary election is held 4 weeks prior to the April election. All these judges must be less than 70 years old and licensed attor- neys. In addition, the Supreme Court justices and circuit court judges must have at least 5 years' experience as attorneys to qualify for office. Vacancies in the offices of judges are filled by the Governor, until a successor is elected. In elections held to fill vacancies, judges are elected for full terms instead of the remainder of the unexpired terms. 551
This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, US Code).| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright