InWisconsin, there are two federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Wisconsin's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Wisconsin's state court system.

Judicial selection process

See also:Wisconsin judicial elections

Theseven justices of theWisconsin Supreme Court,16 judges of theWisconsin Court of Appeals and261 judges of theWisconsin Circuit Courts are elected innonpartisan elections. Supreme court justices serve 10-year terms and the others serve six-year terms. All judges must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court after their term expires.

To read more about judicial elections in Wisconsin,click here.

Federal courts

Thefederal district courts in Wisconsin are the:

• Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Western District of Wisconsin

Appeals go to theU.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Active judges

Eastern district

Below is a display of the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 3
• Republican appointed: 2

Western district

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 2
• Republican appointed: 0

District map

Judicial selection

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by thepresident of the United States and confirmed by theUnited States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, clickhere.

Bankruptcy courts

There are twofederal bankruptcy courts in Wisconsin. These courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy courts in Wisconsin are:

• Eastern District of Wisconsin Bankruptcy Court
• Western District of Wisconsin Bankruptcy Court^[1]

State supreme court

See also:Wisconsin Supreme Court

Wisconsin Supreme Court

TheWisconsin Supreme Court is the state'scourt of last resort and has seven judgeships. It has discretionary appellate jurisdiction and administrative authority over the rest of the court system. The supreme court can also hear original cases.^[2][3] Most commonly, the supreme court reviews cases that were appealed from the court of appeals.^[4]

The following judges sit on the court:

State court of appeals

See also:Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Wisconsin Court of Appeals

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is theintermediate appellate court in Wisconsin. Unlike the supreme court, the court of appeals has principally mandatory jurisdiction, so it cannot select which appeals it hears.^[2][5] The primary function of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals is to correct errors fromcircuit court cases. Court of appeals opinions become binding precedent unless theWisconsin Supreme Court overrules them.^[6]

Trial courts

Circuit Courts

See also:Wisconsin Circuit Courts

The circuit courts are Wisconsin's trial courts with original jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. These courts are divided into branches. There are 261 circuit judges throughout the state and, except for six counties that share branches between counties, each county has at least one branch. While the state is divided into nine administrative districts, judges are elected on a county-by-county basis.^[2][7]

Municipal Courts

See also:Wisconsin Municipal Courts

Many communities, by local option, have created a municipal court to handle non-criminal traffic and municipal ordinance matters.^[2][8]

In other states

See also

• Judicial selection in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin judicial elections

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Wisconsin Court System

Footnotes

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