Senate Bill 144 proposes to amend the current statutes regarding the number of judges in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Specifically, the bill seeks to eliminate one judgeship from district IV upon the expiration of the current judge's term on July 31, 2026, while simultaneously establishing an additional judgeship in district III, effective August 1, 2026. As a result, each district of the court of appeals will have four judges starting on that date. The initial election for this new judgeship in district III is scheduled for the spring election of 2026, with the term commencing on August 1, 2026, and concluding on July 31, 2032.

The bill includes specific legal language changes, notably the deletion of the previous structure that allocated three judges to district IV and five judges to district III, replacing it with a uniform allocation of four judges across all four districts of the court of appeals. This adjustment aims to balance the distribution of judges among the districts while addressing the judicial needs of the state.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 752.03