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Doyle looks to fill judge slots

Dane County Circuit Court currenty has 4 open positions after wave of retirements

Two Dane County Circuit Court judges recently announced their retirements, which now brings four new judges into office this year.

Circuit Court judges Diane Nicks and James Martin sent Gov. Jim Doyle their letters of resignation on March 31, joining their colleagues Judge Steven Ebert and Judge Michael Nowakowski, according to Doyle spokesperson Lee Sensenbrenner.

“It is certainly unusual for four judges to be leaving at approximately the same time,” Martin said. “That’s approximately 25 percent of the court.”

Doyle announced Friday he is seeking to fill three of the judicial positions recently vacated by the retiring judges.

According to Sensenbrenner, a judicial selection committee will interview candidates for the positions and give recommendations to the governor, who will have the final say.

Although the governor can immediately appoint judges to the bench, he chose to open up the position to the public, Sensenbrenner said.

Sensenbrenner said the new judges will begin their term after Doyle completes his selection process, though a date has not been set.

“There is a lot of competition here in Dane County; there are many experienced attorneys,” Topf Wells, chief of staff for Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, said. “But Doyle was a longtime district attorney, so he knows the court system. We are certainly going to get three good judges.”

Dane County has changed a great deal demographically in the past few years, Wells said, noting it is important the judges reflect the same diversity in the courtroom.

Although the judges will begin their term simultaneously, there are enough experienced judges on the bench to help the new appointees, Wells said.

According to Wells, while knowing courtroom procedure is important, new judges should be able to create innovative solutions to problems and be open to new technology, such as video conferencing.

“Our court system — just like any other local government branch — is under pressure from a growing population and increasingly complicated laws,” Wells said. “We hope to find judges with new and better ways of doing things.”

Applications for the positions are due on April 24, Sensenbrenner said.