Wisconsin Judicial Council

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The Judicial Council is a 21-member body whose principal statutory responsibilities are to study and make recommendations relating to: (1) court pleading, practice and procedure; and (2) organization, jurisdiction and methods of administration and operation of Wisconsin courts. The Council is comprised of a Supreme Court justice; a Court of Appeals judge; four circuit court judges; one district attorney; three members of the state bar; two citizen members; and all of the following individuals (or their designees): the Director of State Courts, the chairs of the Senate and Assembly standing committees with jurisdiction over judicial affairs, the Attorney General, the chief of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the deans of the law schools of the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University, the State Public Defender, and the president-elect of the state bar. Section 758.13 stats.

Chapter 392 of the Wisconsin Laws of 1951 created the Judicial Council.

The 1995-97 biennial budget, 1995 Wis. Act 27, removed funding for Judicial Council staff positions and reassigned the staff support duties to the Judicial Commission.

The 2007-09 biennial budget, 2007 Wisconsin Act 20, restored the Judicial Council’s independence from the Commission, and re-appropriated funding for a full-time Judicial Council Staff Attorney.

The 2017-2019 biennial budget, 2017 Wisconsin Act 59, removed funding for a Judicial Council Staff Attorney.