Wisconsin Court System / Wisconsin Supreme Court

following is a brief overview of the wisconsin court system. municipal courts -237 municipal courts -240 municipal judges -milwaukee has the largest municipal court and three full-time municipal judges. madison has the only other full-time municipal court. circuit courts -single level trial court since 1978. -249 circuit judges in 72 counties. judges elected countywide to six-year terms in non-partisan elections. -milwaukee county is the largest jurisdiction with 47 judges. -30 counties have one judge each; smaller counties share a judge. court of appeals -created in 1978 and originally designed to handle 1,200 cases per year. -mostly mandatory jurisdiction, meaning that litigants have the right to appeal their cases from the circuit court to the court of appeals. -16 judges in four districts. judges elected district wide to six-year terms. supreme court -seven justices elected statewide to 10-year terms. -court of last resort. -court reviews approximately 1,000 petitions per year and accepts between 100 and 120.