2015
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Maxine A. White appointed chief judge
Madison, Wisconsin - April 24, 2015
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has appointed Deputy Chief Judge Maxine A. White, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, to serve as chief judge of the state’s First Judicial District for a two-year term effective Aug. 1.
White will join nine other Wisconsin circuit court judges on the Committee of Chief Judges, which consists of one chief judge from each of the state’s 10 judicial administrative districts. Working as a team with a deputy chief judge and a professional court administrator, chief judges manage the flow of cases, supervise personnel, develop budgets, and meet monthly as a committee to work on issues of statewide importance.
White has served as deputy chief judge of the First Judicial District (Milwaukee County) since 2008. She is presiding judge of Milwaukee County Circuit Court’s Family Division and has previously been assigned to circuit court branches that handle major criminal cases and large civil claims. White was first appointed to the bench in 1992 and has been elected four times since, most recently in 2011.
White will replace outgoing Chief Judge Jeffrey A. Kremers, who will continue serving on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench. Kremers was first appointed to the bench in 1992 and has been elected four times. He has served as a chief judge since 2008 and currently chairs the Committee of Chief Judges – a position selected by fellow committee members. Before joining the court, Kremers was in private practice from 1975 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1992. He served as an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County from 1976 to 1981.
Before becoming a judge, White previously served as a legal advisor and instructor for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia, as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and as a manager in the Social Security Administration.
White has served in a variety of leadership roles, including as a director of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference and as a member of its executive committee. She served as chair of the Wisconsin Committee on Judicial Selection, the Governor’s Task Force on Racial Profiling and as co-chair of the Supreme Court Special Committee on Gender Neutrality. White served on the Wisconsin Judicial Council from 2008 to 2014.