Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 345 - Vehicles — civil and criminal liability.
345.315 - Change of judge.

345.315 Change of judge.
(1) In traffic regulation and nonmoving traffic violation cases a person charged with a violation may file a written request for a substitution of a different judge for the judge originally assigned to the trial of that case. The written request shall be filed not later than 7 days after the initial appearance in person or by an attorney. If a new judge is assigned to the trial of a case and the defendant has not exercised the right to substitute an assigned judge, a written request for the substitution of the new judge may be filed within 10 days of the giving of actual notice or sending of the notice of assignment to the defendant or the defendant's attorney. If the notification occurs within 10 days of the date set for trial, the request shall be filed within 48 hours of the giving of actual notice or sending of the notice of assignment to the defendant or the defendant's attorney. If the notification occurs within 48 hours of the trial or if there has been no notification, the defendant may make an oral or written request for substitution prior to the commencement of the proceedings. The judge against whom a request has been filed may set initial bail and accept a plea.
(1m) When the clerk of court receives a request for substitution, the clerk shall immediately contact the judge whose substitution has been requested for a determination of whether the request was made timely and in proper form. If the request is found to be timely and in proper form, the judge named in the request has no further jurisdiction and the clerk shall request the assignment of another judge under s. 751.03. If no determination is made within 7 days, the clerk shall refer the matter to the chief judge of the judicial administrative district for determination of whether the request was made timely and in proper form and reassignment as necessary.
(2) Except as provided in sub. (5), no more than one judge can be disqualified in any action.
(3) In a court of record assignment of judges shall be made as provided in s. 751.03.
(4) In municipal court a case shall be transferred as provided in ss. 751.03 (2) and 800.05.
(5) If upon an appeal from a judgment or order or upon a writ of error the appellate court orders a new trial or reverses or modifies the judgment or order in a manner such that further proceedings in the trial court are necessary, the person charged with a violation may file a request under sub. (1) within 20 days after the entry of the judgment or decision of the appellate court whether or not another request was filed prior to the time the appeal or writ of error was taken.
History: 1971 c. 278; 1973 c. 218; 1977 c. 135; 1977 c. 187 s. 135; 1977 c. 305, 449; 1979 c. 32 s. 92 (1), (17); 1981 c. 165; 1983 a. 218; 1987 a. 151.
Judicial Council Note, 1977: This section has been amended so that a judge against whom a substitution of judge request has been filed in traffic regulation cases may, however, set initial bail and accept a plea. The provision that all defendants must join in any substitution of judge request has been deleted to conform to a provision in chapter 149, laws of 1975. In addition, the transfer fee from municipal to county court has been deleted and a municipal justice will no longer retain the option of transferring the case to another municipal justice rather than county court when a request for substitution has been filed against him or her. [Bill 74-S]
Judicial Council Note, 1983: Sub. (1) is amended by conforming the procedure for requesting the substitution of a judge other than the judge originally assigned to the trial of a traffic regulation case to that specified for criminal actions in s. 971.20 (5), stats. The time deadlines are made to run from the time of giving actual notice or sending the notice of assignment to the defendant or the defendant's attorney rather than receipt thereof, which is difficult to determine and therefore causes problems in the administration of justice. [Bill 148-S]

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