The Wisconsin Court System is responsible for protecting the citizens of Wisconsin by upholding the law. The Supreme Court is the highest level of courts in the Wisconsin Court System. The court system is composed of municipal, circuit, appellate, and supreme courts.
How Does the Court System Work?
The Wisconsin court system works by moving court cases through the different bodies of the court system. Before a case can go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, it must be heard in the Appellate Court(also known as the court of appeals). There are ways that the court of appeals can be overridden and the case will move to the Supreme Court through a process known as direct review.
The court system allows you to file cases, search for cases, Livestream courts, and find forms directly from their website.
Responsibilities of Each Court
Each body of the Wisconsin Court System has different functions and responsibilities. They are divided into different branches that operate and work together to protect the rights of their citizens.
Municipal
Municipal courts are responsible for handling cases involving traffic citations, parking and ordinance, juvenile cases, and drunk driving offenses(first-time). This court will also hear cases regarding disorderly conduct, truancy, animal control violations, trespassing, building code violations, and health code violations.
The largest municipality in Wisconsin is in Milwaukee. There are 229 municipal courts throughout the state with 232 municipal judges upholding the laws of the municipal courts.
Circuit
Trial courts in Wisconsin are known as circuit courts. Circuit courts are responsible for hearing civil and criminal court cases and are divided into branches. Almost every county in the state of Wisconsin has one branch in each county except for a few counties that are paired off and share judges. Out of the 249 judges in the state of Wisconsin, 47 of these judges are used in Milwaukee county.
If a case is lost in circuit court, the party of the case can appeal the decision to the court of appeals. That party also has the right to bypass the court of appeals and file a petition to have the Supreme Court hear the case directly.
Appellate
The Appellate courts or court of appeals are divided into four districts with 16 judges overseeing these districts. The responsibility of the court of appeals is to rule in the favor of one party of the circuit case or present the case to the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals makes its decision based on the circuit court proceedings and/or oral arguments presented by each party involved in the case.
Supreme
The Supreme Court is the highest level of the Wisconsin Court System as previously mentioned. There are a total of 7 justices that sit on the Supreme court and their term lasts for ten years. The Wisconsin Court System will post decisions or opinions for all court cases on the court system’s website. The Supreme court has the power to decide which cases it will review and has authority over all courts in Wisconsin and attorneys that practice in the state.