WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK


               MUNICIPAL AND SPECIAL COURTS
   The constitution gives the legislature power to create municipal
 and other inferior courts, as well as to confer criminal and civil
 jurisdiction upon the county courts. Under this authority thirty-one
 municipal courts have been created, two superior courts, a civil court
 in Milwaukee County with seven branches, and a district court in
 the same county.
   The statutes creating the municipal courts are all special acts to
 be found only in the session laws and confer varying jurisdiction.
 Some are not courts of record and do not have a jurisdiction much
 greater than that of justices of the peace. A larger number are courts
 of record and have an extensive civil and criminal jurisdiction. The
 terms of office of the judges are either four or six years, as pre-
 scribed in the act creating the particular court in question.
   The two superior courts are in Madison and Superior and, except
for the title, are similar to the municipal courts which exist else-
where. The Civil Court of Milwaukee County has jurisdiction in civil
cases only, but is the trial court for a large percentage of the civil
actions arising in that county. The District Court of Milwaukee
County is a criminal court for the trial of minor offenders.


                         JUSTICE COURTS
   Justice courts, presided over by a justice of the peace, are consti-
 tutional courts which cannot be abolished without amendment to the
 constitution. They are not courts of record and their procedure is
 quite informal. Justices are elected annually in most towns and vil-
 lages and in many cities, there being often a justice for each ward.
 They have jurisdiction throughout the county, but their civil juris-
 diction is limited to cases involving $200 or less and their criminal
 jurisdiction covers only local ordinances plus the power to bind over
 for trial persons charged with offenses in instances where the evi-
 dence indicates probable guilt. In counties where municipal or other
 special courts have been established, the jurisdiction of the justice
 courts is very often limited considerably by the acts creating these
 special courts. In Milwaukee there is only one justice and he has no
 jurisdiction in either civil or criminal cases, but all justice court
 cases are handled by the Civil Court of Milwaukee County which was
 established in 1909.

                          POLICE COURTS
   Special courts known as police courts exist in a number of cities,
 having been established by the cities themselves or under old special
 charters issued many years ago. The jurisdiction of the police courts
 is confined to the trial of cases involving violations of municipal
.ordinances.


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