News

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has appointed a Barron County Circuit Court judge as the next chief judge of the Tenth Judicial Administrative District, and the Court re-appointed circuit court judges from Kenosha, Marathon, and Marinette counties to new two-year terms as chief judges of their respective judicial administrative districts.

The Court also re-appointed Chief Judge Lisa S. Neubauer to a new three-year term as chief judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. All appointments and re-appointments are effective Aug. 1.

Deputy Chief Judge Maureen D. Boyle, Barron County Circuit Court, will replace outgoing Chief Judge Scott R. Needham in District Ten’s top administrative post. The Tenth District encompasses the northwestern part of the state, including Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Polk, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer, and Washburn counties.

Boyle was first appointed to the Barron County bench in 2013, and was elected in 2014. She previously served as an assistant district attorney in Barron, Walworth, and Rock counties and as assistant director of the Center on Impaired Driving. She is a member of the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.

Needham served more than three terms as a chief judge, including one year as the chair of the Committee of Chief Judges. He was first elected to the St. Croix County bench in 1994 and has been re-elected four times since, most recently in April.

Before his election to the bench, Needham worked as an attorney in private practice from 1978 to 1994. In 2010, he was chosen Judge of the Year by the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Chief Judge Jason A. Rossell, Kenosha County Circuit Court, was re-appointed as chief judge of the Second Judicial Administrative District, which includes Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Rossell was appointed to the Kenosha County bench in 2011 and was elected in 2012. He served in private practice from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2008 to 2011. He was an assistant district attorney in Kenosha County from 2003 to 2008. Rossell is a graduate of UW-Whitewater and UW Law School. Rossell serves on the Judicial Education Committee and the Wisconsin Judicial Committee on Child Welfare, which is part of the Children’s Court Improvement Program (CCIP).

Chief Judge Gregory B. Huber, Marathon County Circuit Court, was re-appointed chief judge of the Ninth Judicial Administrative District, which includes Florence, Forest, Iron, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Menominee, Oneida, Price, Shawano, Taylor, and Vilas counties.

Huber was elected to the circuit court bench in 2004 and was re-elected in 2010 and 2016. He had previously served as a deputy chief judge. Before joining the circuit court, he served as a state representative from the 85th Assembly District in the Wausau area, from 1989 to 2004. From 1983 to 1988, he was an assistant district attorney in Marathon County. Huber has served on the Legislative Committee of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.

Chief Judge James A. Morrison, Marinette County Circuit Court, was re-appointed chief judge of the Eighth Judicial Administrative District, which includes Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, and Waupaca counties.

Morrison was appointed to the Marinette County bench in 2012 and elected to a six-year term in 2013. He serves on the Supreme Court Finance Committee, the executive and legislative committees of the Judicial Conference and is former chair of the Board of Bar Examiners. He previously worked as an attorney in private practice.

Chief Judge Lisa S. Neubauer was re-appointed to a new three-year term as chief judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. She was first appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2007, elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2014.

Neubauer is on the Supreme Court Finance Committee and co-chairs the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Bench and Bar Committee. She is a former Board Member for Equal Justice Coalition and Legal Action of Wisconsin. In 2004, she won the Community Service Award from the Association for Women Lawyers.

Neubauer, former presiding judge of the District II Court of Appeals, previously worked in private practice, from 1989 to 2007, and clerked for the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin from 1987 to 1988. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and UW-Madison, and is a member of the Order of Coif.

The Supreme Court appoints or re-appoints circuit court judges as needed to serve as administrative chief judges in each of the state's judicial administrative districts and the Court of Appeals.

Working as a team with a deputy chief judge and a professional court administrator, a circuit court district chief judge helps manage the flow of cases and meets several times a year with other chief judges as a committee to work on administrative issues of statewide importance. With the exception of the First Judicial Administrative District, where the chief judge is a full-time administrator, chief judges and their deputies maintain court calendars in addition to handling administrative matters. More information about chief judges, including a list of all current chief judges, can be found here.

Contact:
Tom Sheehan
Court Information Officer
(608) 261-6640