Background
What kind of court cases are heard in Salem?
What have I done since I became judge?
I was appointed as Salem Municipal Judge in April of 2004. John Riesselmann, after 12 years on the bench, resigned the office with one year, of his 2 year term remaining. He retired and moved to Florida. I was elected and re-elected in contested races the next three terms and held the position since, till the present time.
15 years on the bench experience... You have made an investment in me.
I continue building my knowledge by attending judicial education seminars. These are held at various times throughout the year by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. A Municipal judge is required to earn 4 judicial educational credits per year. I have, since becoming judge in 2004, earned at least double, if not triple the credits required per year, for the preceeding 15 years.
Although I must follow the guidelines of the law to enforce ordinances, I try to add equal parts of common sense when making decisions.
What kind of court cases are heard in Salem?
Salem Lakes Municipal Court hears Village ordinance and traffic violations. These are all non-criminal cases which receive monetary forfeitures if found to be guilty. Typical cases which I have heard are are listed below. Traffic cases are now the largest part of the docket. Truancy and various other school cases are heard during the school year.
Common cases include:
- Traffic
- Boating
- Property maintenance violations
- Underage alcohol
- Building code violations
- Fire code violations
- Disorderly conduct
- Trespass
- Health code violations
- Animal control violations
- Truancy
- First offense drunk driving
What have I done since becoming judge?
Created a website for the municipal court. I maintain and update the court website myself. https://www.villageofsalemlakes.org/ [Municipal Court]
Active with the Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association. Created and maintain their website which is designed to be a resource / research center for all Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association members. http://wmja.net
Meet regularly with school officials regarding truancy issues. School officials now attend most if not all school court sessions involving their students. This has proved to work out very well.
Held every court session as scheduled the past 15 years.
The court is right up to date with present requirements for the Wisconsin municipal court system, which is under the supervision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the District 2 Chief Judge.
When it comes to passing sentence for truancy violations, I generally offer Community Service Work rather than monetary fines. If the student is not working I know where that money would have to come from. The whole point is to keep the students in school to get an education.
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