Four Levels of the Wisconsin Court System
The Wisconsin Court system involves four levels of Wisconsin courts that are administered by the State. In addition, there are two Federally-administered Wisconsin courts. The first Federally-managed Wisconsin court is the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin and the second Federal Wisconsin Court is the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
On the State level, the lowest Wisconsin court is a Municipal Court. The next level of the Wisconsin court system is the Wisconsin Circuit Court System. There are ten judicial administrative districts of these Wisconsin courts. There is an intermediate appellate Wisconsin court, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court is broken into four districts.
At the top of the Wisconsin Court System is the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has the authority to oversee the entire Wisconsin court system. The jurisdiction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court has only the slightest of limitations. The jurisdiction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court extends to original actions, appeals against the actions of a lower Wisconsin court, and the regulation and administration of the practice of Wisconsin law.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court includes seven justices who are elected in non-partisan, State-wide elections to serve ten year terms. Only one seat can be up for election at a time. In the event that a vacancy develops, the Governor of Wisconsin appoints someone to fill the seat, who must then stand for election in the next year when another seat would not otherwise expire.
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