A powerful panel of lawmakers has endorsed using an additional $3.4 million to give merit raises to assistant state public defenders.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has voted to repeal an antiquated witness competency statute that has plagued some practitioners.

Is the state’s dead man’s statute dead?

The Judicial Council won’t be asking for any changes in the next biennial budget after all.

More than 20 years in the making, a proposal to overhaul the state's rules of criminal procedure still could not make it through the state Legislature this year.

Some state agencies, including the Judicial Council and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, continue to face problems with the state’s new IT system.

Two panels of lawmakers heard both praise and criticism Thursday of a 23-year-old attempt at updating and restructuring Wisconsin’s code governing criminal procedures.

Although the Joint Finance Committee has deleted Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to eliminate the Judicial Council from the budget bill, its members are still concerned about how the council will be financed.

The Joint Finance Committee has approved a motion to delete Gov. Scott Walker's budget recommendation to eliminate the Judicial Council.

Members of the legislative Joint Committee of Finance had some tough and far-reaching questions Monday.

The Wisconsin Judicial Council is preparing its course of action over how to react to Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to eliminate it.

Gov. Scott Walker wants to eliminate the 64-year-old Judicial Council, according to budget documents released Tuesday.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court plans to hear a proposal Monday that proponents say would make it easier for parties to a civil case in another state to compel evidence or testimony from Wisconsin residents. The proposal, shepherded by the Wisconsin Judicial Council, would rewrite Wisconsin’s law governing depositions and discovery for cases that are being filed and litigated in other state ...

State Supreme Court justices had many questions Monday for the proponents of a measure to disallow the use of victims' names in certain appellate filings.

State criminal defense lawyers who weighed in on a proposal to remove the names of most crime victims from filings in appeals cases are opposed to the move.

A state Supreme Court rules petition that aims to establish a pilot project to study the appointment of counsel in civil cases will most likely not be heard until at least later this year.

The Wisconsin Judicial Council will discuss a proposed rewriting of the state’s criminal code during its meeting Friday.

Supporters of a measure to disallow the use of names of crime victims in appellate paperwork say it is a step toward ensuring victims’ ordeals don’t haunt them forever.

Revisions to Wisconsin’s criminal code, a project 20 years in the making, are getting closer to the state Legislature. A 300-page proposal is before the Wisconsin Judicial Council, which is expected to review the proposal prior to a September meeting, said staff attorney April Southwick. “It’s a monster,” she said. “But I know it’s a priority with the council for ...

The Wisconsin Judicial Council will remain in business, with a paid staff attorney, after the state budget signed Sunday by Gov. Scott Walker included money to maintain the agency. But the 2011-13 budget only pays for half the annual operating costs of the council, providing $69,700 of the $127,700 the council was given in the state’s 2009-11 budget. Staff Attorney ...