Municipal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over ordinance violations. If a municipality does not have a municipal court, ordinance violations are heard in circuit court. Cities, villages and towns are authorized to establish municipal courts.
As of May 2000 there were 220 municipal courts and 222 municipal judges in Wisconsin. Milwaukee has the largest municipal court, with three full-time judges and four part-time court commissioners handling more than 190,000 cases annually. Madison has the only other full-time municipal court; it was created in 1992.
Municipal Judges
Municipal judges are elected in non-partisan elections in the spring and take office May 1. The municipality determines the judge's salary, job description and term of office, which ranges from two to four years. Under state law, municipal judges are not required to be licensed attorneys, but a municipality may enact such a restriction by ordinance.
* There are 222 municipal judgeships.
* There are six reserve municipal judges.
* Of the sitting judges, 104 are attorneys (47 percent). All six of the reserve judges are attorneys.
Caseload
The majority of municipal court cases involve traffic and ordinance matters, including first-time drunken driving offenses. Juvenile matters, such as truancy, underage drinking, drug offenses and curfew violations have become a large part of municipal court caseloads within the last few years. Municipal courts handle a significant portion of the statewide court caseload in these areas.
Creating Municipal Courts
Municipalities may join together to form one court. The contracting municipalities need not be contiguous or even in the same county. Any number of municipalities may join and voters in all the municipalities elect the judge.
Appellate Rights
In municipal court, there are no jury trials; all cases are decided by a judge. However, both the municipality and the defendant have the right to a jury trial, which is available in the circuit court. A person charged with a first drunken driving offense may seek a jury trial in circuit court within 20 days of an initial municipal court appearance on OWI/PAC (operating while intoxicated/ prohibited alcohol content); all other defendants must wait until the municipal court renders judgment. An appeal to circuit court will be a review of the record unless either party requests a new trial before a judge. The appealing party may also request a six-person jury trial.
Fees
In 1996, the Legislature passed a law that raised the costs associated with a citation for a municipal ordinance violation that is written to circuit court. As a result, such a citation cost $48 to $55 more than a citation to municipal court. Therefore, an individual who is ticketed for a municipal ordinance violation in a community that does not have a municipal court will have to pay about $50 more because the case will be heard in circuit court. The forfeiture amount that the municipality receives is the same regardless of which level of court hears the violation. When there is no municipal court, the municipality pays a $5 fee per citation to the circuit court to hear its ordinance violations.
Judicial Education
Supreme Court rules require that municipal judges earn at least four judicial education credits per year. The Office of Judicial Education provides the required education for the judges and for more than 250 municipal court clerks. Municipal judge and clerk education is entirely funded through an annual fee paid by each municipality that has a municipal court.
