Legislation, budget creates 8 new judicial branches

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It has been seven years since Wisconsin legislators approved an additional circuit court branch, but thanks to inclusions in the state budget and passage of recent legislation, there will be eight new judges by 2010.

On Nov. 12, Gov. Jim Doyle signed Wisconsin Act 28, which established new circuit court branches in Green, Dodge, Monroe, Barron, Chippewa and St. Croix counties throughout the next three years. Two additional branches, one each in Kenosha and Juneau counties were adopted in the state budget.

While demand had arguably surpassed supply in numerous counties around the state, how did Wisconsin go from zero new judges since a 2000 addition in Waupaca County, to the approval of eight in one year?

“It was the perfect storm scenario,” said Director of State Courts A. John Voelker of the circumstances, which led to strong support from communities, the courts and the Legislature.

Thorough Research

Voelker cited an updated weighted caseload study as a prime reason the legislation succeeded.

A 2006 study, in conjunction with the National Center for State Courts, was the first in a decade and used the same general formula for tabulating the number of judges needed to dispose of cases filed in a given year. But the new study also integrated court commissioners, expanded the types of cases included and accounted for law changes, like Truth-in-Sentencing.

Because of the updated methodology, combined with county approval, seven of the top 10 counties designated most in need of an additional judge will get one during the next three years.

“I think the biggest thing is we had an up-to-date comprehensive and objective way of measuring where the judicial need was,” said Voelker, who submitted a detailed request for the new branches to the Legislature in August. “When you have that kind of ammunition, it goes a long way in making your arguments for additional judicial support.”

Despite evidentiary support for the new branches, separate bills in the Senate and Assembly stalled when passage of the state budget dragged into late October. As stipulated in both bills, four of the six judgeships were to start their six-year terms after the spring 2008 election.

Elections for additional judgeships in Green and Monroe counties will take place in spring 2009 and spring 2010, respectively.

Once the budget was finalized on Oct. 23, less than a month remained for the Legislature to adopt the bill and Gov. Doyle to sign it in order for the State Elections Board and potential candidates to have enough time to prepare for an April election.

“We just beat the Nov. 15 deadline,” said Eric M. Peterson, legislative aide to Sen. Lena Taylor, who co-sponsored the bill. “We had faith that the budget would be finalized in time, but the big issue was whether the bill could be turned around in time for the 2008 elections to take place.”

Because of the time crunch, the Senate took up the Assembly version of the bill, which had passed, 94-2 on Nov. 6. After minor modifications, the Senate passed the bill on Nov. 8, by a 25-7 vote.

Voelker noted that the depth of the study, combined with endorsement by the Legislative Audit Bureau of the weighted caseload system, precluded any serious opposition to the legislation.

“This wasn’t a political issue,” said Voelker. “We went to the Legislature saying, your own people in the Audit Bureau said we can improve the system and this is why you should support it.”

Cost Issues

Funding for the new branches will be drawn from state money, which has not been appropriated, according to Peterson.

Statute requires the state to maintain a “savings account” of $65 million in cash, which is untouchable. But, based on projections, the savings account will have an additional $2.7 million in unappropriated funds will be available in 2008. Approximately $900,000 of that money will go toward establishing branches in Barron, Dodge, Chippewa and St. Croix counties next year.

An additional $500,000 will eventually be appropriated for judgeships in Green County in 2009 and Dodge County in 2010 and have no financial impact on the current biennium.

“That money is essentially left over from the budget and has yet to be assigned, so that is where the one-time cost for the new judgeships will come from,” said Peterson, who added that funding the new judgeships was not contingent on the passage of budget.

“Funding for judgeships has always come from general purpose revenue and that was the plan this time,” said Peterson. “Joint Finance had approved the appropriation, so there was no discussion about finding grant money or anything like that.”

The individual counties will assume financial responsibility pertaining to support staff and facilities once the judges are elected.

Two Branches Delayed

All six of the counties, with branches created by the legislation, passed resolutions in support of the additional judges, but two – Monroe and Green – still need to develop space to accommodate their new judges. Because of that, each county’s additional judge has been delayed.

Dating back to last year, Green County has been developing a new justice center which will supplant the century-old structure in downtown Monroe. According to Circuit Court Judge James R. Beer, the project has progressed to the point of “fine-tuning the interior” and the new center will be ready to house a second judge by Aug. 1 of 2009.

The new justice center, to be constructed next to the existing jail outside of Monroe, will house approximately 64,000 square feet of useable space at an estimated cost of $12.6 million, according to Beer.

The current courthouse could not have accommodated a second judge and lacked updated security measures, according to Beer.

“The first $5 million bond has been approved by the county board so far and, once completed, the center will be expandable so we don’t run into space problems in the future,” said Beer.

Like Green County, Monroe County is also planning a new justice center, but the location and cost are still being negotiated, said Circuit Court Judge Michael J. McAlpine.

“We won’t have facilities available by Aug. 1 of next year, but hopefully our county board will take some action to approve the construction of a new facility that will provide us the space,” said McAlpine, who is one of two circuit court judges in the county, along with Judge Todd Ziegler.

The new facility would replace the current courthouse in downtown Sparta, which is more than 100 years old, and provide additional office and personnel space. McAlpine said the most recent cost estimates are around $29 million, but include construction of a new jail which would be connected to the new courthouse and potentially be located outside of Sparta.

“We anticipate the board will move forward with the facility that has been discussed, but there are other plans to build that have been adopted, although financing has not,” said McAlpine. “If the current plan does not obtain necessary votes for funding, we’ll begin plann
ing how we will be able to accommodate that new position.”