Change could be coming to judges’ education requirements

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The Office of Judicial Education’s office for Municipal Court Education is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to make certain changes to the state’s mandatory education requirements for municipal judges.

Under current Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules, newly elected municipal judges must attend the earliest orientation institute following their election and earn at least four education credits at an orientation, review or graduate institute in each 365-day period after their term begins unless they hold office for less than five months during a calendar year.

The Office of Judicial Education recently submitted a request for rules changes to the high court, asking that the rules be modified to include appointed municipal judges, require those judges to start judicial education in their first year in offices and to make the judicial education calendar for municipal judges consistent with the calendar year.

According to the memo accompanying the request, the change in the calendar year will clear up confusion for municipal judges, who often fail to realize or remember that the judicial education year runs from May 1 through April 30, not the calendar year.

Also, according to the memo, adding appointed municipal judges to the rule will ensure that those judges get their judicial education as soon as possible. Currently, municipal judges who are appointed from December through April must wait until the following May to begin attending the required educational seminars.

The proposed changes, according to the memo, will simplify the rules for municipal judges and should not affect any substantive rights or have any fiscal impact.

The changes already have support, according to the memo. The Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association will be voting to support the changes at its March 16 meeting, and the director of Judicial Education and Municipal Judge Education Committee support the petition.

The next step will be for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to vote in an open rules conference on whether it wants to take up the changes. If they choose to so, the justices will schedule a public hearing for the requested rule change, invite the public to submit written comments and then discuss the hearing and comments before voting on whether to adopt the change.

The justice’s next rules conference is scheduled for March 16. However, the proposed changes to the municipal judge education requirements did not make the agenda. They will likely be discussed at a later rules conference. Follow @erikastrebel