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Proposed bill would require municipal court judges carry law degrees

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//November 15, 2011//

Proposed bill would require municipal court judges carry law degrees

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//November 15, 2011//

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Kim Moe is not an attorney, yet she spent 13 years as a part-time municipal court judge.

She retired in May from Glenwood City Municipal Court so she could focus on her dog-grooming business. Her professional training is in holistic animal nutrition and animal massage therapy, but Moe said her competence as a judge never was called into question.

“The cases I dealt with were mostly traffic issues,” she said, “and I think most of those just required common sense and not a law degree.”

After her election to the bench, Moe attended four days of training, sponsored by the Wisconsin Office of Judicial Education, that included a crash course in municipal statutes, trial procedure and traffic laws. Every year, she said, she took between three and six credits of judicial education on new laws and case reviews.

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But that shouldn’t be enough to qualify someone for the bench, said state Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, who has proposed a bill that would require all municipal court judges have law degrees and be members of the State Bar. Judges, he said, should have the education to instill confidence in litigants and avoid the perception of being unqualified.

“My feeling is if you are going to make a decision of law,” he said, “you ought to be able to understand what the law is.”

Of the 239 municipal court judges in the state, 124 are not lawyers, according to the Office of Judicial Education.

Kessler, a lawyer and former circuit court judge, said a law degree would help eliminate instances of municipal court judges being taken advantage of by lawyers or police.

“I think inherently, it is just going to happen,” he said, “because if you don’t have the same training and experience as someone else in the room, I don’t understand how that isn’t going to be intimidating.”

Carl Mercier, a Marinette Municipal Court judge and retired history teacher, said his first year on the bench was a challenge. During his first week, he said, he had to rule on a cease-and-desist trial brought against the city, and he relied on a former city attorney for guidance.

“I think the most important thing for municipal judges who don’t know something,” he said, “is to not be afraid to ask for help instead of going in and being stupid.”

The most important thing, Kessler said, is for municipal judges to have enough training that they don’t need to rely on others.

“There hasn’t been anything blatant,” he said. “But I see a slight erosion of fairness when a judge is leaning on another professional in the courtroom or a law enforcement official for help.”

The Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association offers online help for judges with legal questions and also matches those lacking a law background with judicial or attorney mentors.

There are enough tools to help nonlawyers effectively perform as municipal court judges, particularly in parts of the state where court only is open once a month, said Milwaukee County Municipal Court Judge Derek Mosley.

“In northern Wisconsin, they just don’t have many attorneys living within a jurisdiction,” he said. “Even if they do, lawyers can make more money representing clients in municipal court than they ever could being a judge on it.”

Mosely is one of three full-time municipal court judges in Milwaukee. City law requires those judges be attorneys, and Mosely makes $128,000 per year in the position.

By contrast, Moe said, she made $250 per month and held court once a month.

But lawyers can still practice law, Kessler said, so compensation shouldn’t be at the heart of the problem.

“There is not a single county in the state that doesn’t already have a number of lawyers in it,” he said. “So I doubt if there wouldn’t be any lawyers interested in those jobs.”

St. Croix County District Attorney Eric Johnson said he has never worried about appearing in front of a municipal court judge who lacks a law degree. But, he said, an attorney on the bench enhances the credibility of the court.

“In an ideal world, it would be nice to have lawyers doing this,” Johnson said. “But in St. Croix County, there are nine municipal courts, and I don’t think you could get nine lawyers who would do it for what they pay.”

And if lawyers or clients have had problems with the shortage of law degrees in Moe’s courtroom, she said, they are ways to express that opinion.

“There is always that option if someone isn’t satisfied or didn’t think I was competent, they can request a different judge or appeal it to circuit court,” she said. “But I never had that happen.”

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