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One Seat, Three Friends

By: dmc-admin//January 19, 2009//

One Seat, Three Friends

By: dmc-admin//January 19, 2009//

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When members of the Green County Bar Association gathered for their annual meeting in December, one table stood out.

All three candidates for the new circuit court branch sat together with their families at the event, an indication that they have no intention of running the kind of judicial campaigns that have emerged to secure seats on the on the state’s top bench.

“We do not have a Supreme Court-type race here,” said candidate Thomas J. Vale.

“We’ve all practiced in the county for a period of time and I’m not running against somebody with a bone to pick. I’m running for myself.”

Vale, 54, added that any type of negative campaigning on the part of the candidates would likely backfire, especially since the trio has essentially been friends for almost a decade.

He and fellow candidate Dan D. Gartzke were former law partners for almost nine years at then-Duxstad, Vale, Bestul & Gartzke S.C. in Monroe. Candidate Timothy J. Burns also maintains a practice in the city and has been the family court commissioner since 1996.

But even though the judicial hopefuls have a personal history with one another, none plan to let that interfere with their professional ambitions.

“We’ll go to bar parties and sit together and I have nothing bad to say about those guys,” Burns said. “But it is a competition and who is the best candidate? I think I am.”

Branching Out

The candidates indicated they had no intention of challenging Judge James R. Beer, who is running uncontested for re-election in Branch 1, because his experience will be an asset for whoever wins the new seat.

Beer has been on the bench in Green County since 1996.

Burns, 53, said his daily experience working inside the county court system gives him an advantage when the new branch officially opens on Aug. 1.

The transition from one judge to two in the county will require a significant amount of planning and flexibility, according to Burns.

“One of the big challenges will be how to determine case allotment and which judge gets what cases,” said Burns, who added that pro se family law cases are on the rise in the county. “It’s a lot different going from one judge to two, than say two to three.”

In 2007, the state Legislature created the second branch after a study showed a need of 1.9 additional judicial staff to adequately handle the caseload. At the time, Beer said reserve judges were frequently called in to take cases, especially misdemeanors.

Gartzke, 49, said if elected, he would like to revisit and possibly revise the local court rules to accommodate the expansion of the court.

“It has been 10 years since the last re-write and there is an awful lot of the local practice which isn’t reflected in the rules,” said Gartzke, who hopes to make it mandatory that lawyers notify judges if they modify a scheduling order.

“Perhaps a judge is looking for that amended complaint, but has no idea that the sides agreed to an extension,” Gartzke said.

Vale, who practices criminal and family law, said a second judge will help move cases through court more quickly. But that speed should not come at the expense of justice.

He conceded that Green County does not encounter the case backlog of “a Milwaukee or Chicago” where the judicial need is technically greater, and time should not be the only factor in ruling on a case.

“The goal should not simply be speed, but to ensure the same quality and fairness in each decision,” Vale said. “As an attorney, I’d want a judge to have time to make reasonable decisions, and not just worry about getting cases scheduled.”

“I think a judge needs his or her own time to consider cases,” Vale added.

New Court

Aside from the challenges of becoming the second judge in the county, one of the candidates will enjoy the benefit of the new $12.6 million justice center, which is currently being built and is set to open in mid-August or early September.

County Clerk Michael Doyle said if the complex is not ready by the time the new judge is sworn in, temporary accommodations will be made in the current courthouse.

“It might be tight, but it should work out just fine for a couple of weeks,” Doyle said.

The new judicial branch was largely contingent on the construction of a new facility, since the current courthouse, built in 1891, is not equipped to accommodate a second jury-ready courtroom and has security problems.

The county approved a new site outside of the city adjacent to the jail, although Gartzke initially lobbied to renovate the century-old courthouse in downtown Monroe. The current courthouse will still be used to house some county offices.

None of the candidates said the construction of a new facility influenced their decision to run.

Regardless of who advances in the Feb. 17 primary and ultimately wins the new seat in the new courthouse on April 7, Gartzke expects the candidates will remain close.

“Whoever wins, the other two will have to appear in front of him in the new court at some point,” Gartzke said. “But the attorneys that we are, we can go in and fight like hell, then walk out friends.”

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