Chain reaction: Old faces in new places in Burnett County

Listen to this article

One year ago, few might have predicted that Burnett County would be the breeding ground for the next state Supreme Court Justice.

Now three elected officials in the northern Wisconsin county will be on the move in early August, a chain reaction triggered by the election of Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Gableman to the high court this spring.

“It’s musical chairs up here,” said William L. Norine, 55, who was appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle on July 24 to replace district attorney Kenneth L. Kutz.

Kutz will succeed Gableman, but his background as a state prosecutor presents an unusual problem.

“I can’t be involved in any of the criminal cases filed by my current office,” said Kutz, who was appointed on June 30. “My transition may be a bit longer than for most judges coming in from private practice.”

Judge Swap

Since there is only one judicial branch in the county, Kutz expects to initially spend a portion of his term in Barron County, while the current criminal caseload filters through the system in Burnett.

Likewise, the incoming judge in neighboring Barron County is former assistant district attorney James D. Babbitt, who will spend part of the first few months of his term in Burnett.

“It’s a similar conflict, but Barron has two other judges so that will allow [Babbitt] to spend time here,” said Kutz. “It’s kind of unique, but we’ll get to spend time in each other’s county.”

Babbitt said his position as an assistant district attorney in Barron does not ethically disqualify him from presiding over cases, which he was not involved in, but Kutz cannot rule on any case from his office.

“I expect I’ll be spending more time in Burnett than Ken does in Barron because his problem is bigger than mine,” said Babbitt, who has known Kutz for years.

After a month of judicial mentoring, the two new judges will begin taking cases from each other’s county. Babbitt said the judges will swap courts for sure on Mondays and Wednesdays, intake days, starting in September.

He also does not expect either judge to make any radical rulings or depart from the traditions of each county.

“We’re both familiar with the philosophy of prosecution and I suspect we’ll be very similar on the bench,” said Babbitt. “Neither of us is going to surprise the local bar with brave new twists on things.”

Norine, who will fill the void left by Kutz, admitted he has big shoes to fill.

“His knowledge of the county will be a huge help and it’s a bit daunting to have someone who is a consummate expert in criminal law on bench,” said Norine, a solo general practitioner. “I’m obviously going to have a learning curve.”

Since his appointment, Norine said he is working to re-assign his case files to area attorneys.

Up for Election

While Gableman, who could not be reached for comment, will spend the next 10 years on the Supreme Court, both Norine and Kutz have much less time before they have to think about elections.

Even before he steps into his role as district attorney, Norine said he is thinking about campaigning for a four-year term for the office. The election will take place on Nov. 4.

“So far, I’m the only person on the ballot,” said Norine, who was also the only candidate to apply for the appointment. “I intend to win, and my impression is people don’t want to have someone in here for three months and then start over again.”

Kutz also plans to seek a six-year term on the circuit court next spring and is not aware of any challengers at the moment.

Attorney David L. Grindell also applied for the appointment, but Kutz said the two are longtime colleagues and reached a “gentleman’s agreement.”

“We said whichever one of us got the nod, the other one would not run next spring,” said Kutz.

Grindell confirmed that he has no interest in opposing Kutz in the spring election.

“I don’t see myself spending the time or the money at that point,” said Grindell.

Neither Kutz nor Norine indicated plans to use their new positions as stepping stones.

Although Kutz applied for the 2002 vacancy on the circuit court that ultimately went to Gableman, he has no plans to follow his predecessor to the Supreme Court.

“It was not unexpected since I’m a lifetime Democrat and back then there was a Republican in the governor’s office,” said Kutz. “But getting on the bench here is as far as my own political ambitions go at this point.”

Norine said after 20-plus years as an attorney, he is content to practice in front of the bench rather than to serve on it.

“I see this as my last job to end my career and that’s what I told the governor’s office,” said Norine. “People think about the bench and so forth, but I like being an advocate in court.”