Which court hears your case. A local ordinance citation or a first-offense OWI, which in Wisconsin is a civil forfeiture and not a crime unless a child under 16 was riding along, is decided by the municipal court of the community where it was written if one exists: Albany, Belleville or Brodhead. Monroe, New Glarus, Monticello, Brooklyn and the towns are not on the state's municipal court list, so their ordinance cases are filed in the Green County Circuit Court. That court also hears every misdemeanor and criminal traffic case, such as a second OWI, and every felony, from the initial appearance and preliminary hearing through trial; with only two judges, both branches carry criminal cases.

Where pretrial inmates are held. Adults arrested by deputies, the Monroe police or any other Green County agency who are not released are booked into the Green County Jail, 2827 6th Street, Monroe. According to the Sheriff's Office, people arrested usually stay there until their initial court appearance, generally within one to four days. Cash bail can be paid at the jail lobby kiosk, at the Justice Center during weekday business hours, at the Monroe Police Department for Monroe charges, or through the jail's online payment service. Call the jail at (608) 328-9598 to confirm whether someone is in custody.

• Green County Circuit Court (Branches 1 and 2) and Clerk of Circuit Court, Green County Justice Center, 2841 6th Street, Monroe, WI 53566; Clerk (608) 328-9433
• Green County District Attorney, Green County Justice Center, 2841 6th Street, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9424
• Green County Sheriff's Office, 2827 6th Street (P.O. Box 473), Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9400
• Green County Jail, 2827 6th Street, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9598
• Wisconsin State Public Defender, Monroe office (serves Green and Lafayette counties), 1720 10th Street, Unit 106, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 447-5170
• Green County Human Services Department, Children, Youth and Families unit (juvenile intake), N3152 State Highway 81, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9384; main line (608) 328-9393

The Green County Justice Center, opened beside the Sheriff's Office and jail, took over the court functions that once sat in the historic courthouse on the Monroe square. Green County is part of the state's Fifth Judicial Administrative District.

Circuit court

• Green County Circuit Court, Branch 1 and Branch 2, Green County Justice Center, 2841 6th Street, Monroe, WI 53566. Clerk of Circuit Court (criminal, traffic, ordinance and court dates): (608) 328-9433

Municipal courts

• Albany Municipal Court (Village of Albany and Town of Albany), 206 North Water Street, Albany, WI 53502, (608) 862-0101
• Belleville Municipal Court (Village of Belleville, which straddles the Dane-Green county line), P.O. Box 79, Belleville, WI 53508, (608) 636-9375
• Brodhead Municipal Court (City of Brodhead), P.O. Box 168, Brodhead, WI 53520, (608) 897-4176

A municipal court in Wisconsin hears only ordinance violations, and its penalties are forfeitures, license consequences and costs rather than jail; confinement is possible only in narrow circumstances tied to nonpayment. A defendant may, in some situations, have the right to move a municipal case into the circuit court, so read the citation carefully and ask the court clerk about deadlines.

Prosecutor, public defender and youth services

• Green County District Attorney, 2841 6th Street, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9424
• State Public Defender, Monroe office, 1720 10th Street, Unit 106, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 447-5170
• Green County Human Services, Children, Youth and Families (juvenile court services), N3152 State Highway 81, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9384

Law enforcement

• Green County Sheriff's Office, 2827 6th Street, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 328-9400; dispatch (608) 328-9401
• Monroe Police Department, 1811 12th Street, Monroe, WI 53566, (608) 329-2400
• Brodhead Police Department, 1004 West Exchange Street, Brodhead, WI 53520, (608) 897-2112
• New Glarus Police Department, 313 2nd Street, New Glarus, WI 53574, (608) 527-2145
• Albany Police Department, 206 North Water Street, Albany, WI 53502, (608) 862-3255
• Monticello Police Department, 140 North Main Street, Monticello, WI 53570, (608) 938-4320
• Belleville Police Department, 31 East Main Street, Belleville, WI 53508, (608) 424-3129
• Brooklyn Police Department, 102 North Rutland Avenue, Brooklyn, WI 53521, (608) 455-2131

Anyone booked into the Green County Jail on a state charge deals with the circuit court clerk, not a municipal court, about court dates and bail; the Sheriff's Office cannot change a court date.

Misdemeanor arrests in Green County often follow tavern disputes, domestic calls, retail thefts in Monroe and OWI stops on State Highways 69, 11 and 81. The District Attorney prosecutes them in the Justice Center.

The first days

Officers release many people with a citation or after booking on a signature bond. Someone kept at the Green County Jail waits for an initial appearance, which the Sheriff's Office says usually happens within one to four days of arrest, where a judge or court commissioner explains the charge and sets conditions such as no contact with an alleged victim or no alcohol. A person who cannot pay for a lawyer and faces possible jail should contact the State Public Defender's Monroe office at (608) 447-5170.

What the law allows in Green County

• A Class A misdemeanor, which includes battery, theft of items worth up to $2,500 and criminal trespass to a dwelling, carries up to nine months in the Green County Jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
• A Class B misdemeanor, the usual level for disorderly conduct, carries up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine; a domestic abuse label adds an assessment and surcharge.
• A Class C misdemeanor carries up to 30 days and a $500 fine.
• A second OWI inside 10 years is a crime with 5 days to 6 months of mandatory jail, revocation, an alcohol and drug assessment and an ignition interlock. By contrast, a first OWI is a forfeiture case ($150 to $300 plus costs, a six- to nine-month revocation, an assessment, and an interlock for a 0.15 test or a refusal) unless a child under 16 was in the car.

Endings and timing

Green County offers post-charge diversion and deferred prosecution agreements, typically lasting about a year, that can lead to dismissal or a reduced outcome if the person completes counseling, treatment, restitution or other conditions. Other cases end with a plea, a fine, probation or a jail term, usually with Huber privileges for work. Green County misdemeanor juries have six members. Many Green County misdemeanors are finished in two to six months.

Green County's felony docket is smaller than its neighbors' but includes methamphetamine and opioid delivery cases, farm and shed burglaries, thefts from employers and serious batteries.

Steps in a Green County felony case

1. Charging. The District Attorney files a criminal complaint, and the defendant makes an initial appearance where cash bail or a signature bond and conditions are set. A person who cannot post the money stays at the Green County Jail.
2. Preliminary hearing. Within 10 days for a defendant held on unaffordable cash, or 20 days otherwise, a judge or commissioner decides whether probable cause supports a felony. Many defendants waive this hearing.
3. Information and arraignment. Green County's District Attorney then files the information, the formal felony charge, and the defendant enters a plea in the Justice Center.
4. Pretrial stage. Discovery, motions and negotiations; the large majority of cases settle with a plea agreement.
5. Trial and sentencing. A 12-member jury must agree unanimously. If the defendant demands a speedy trial, Wisconsin law generally sets a 90-day limit for starting it. Before sentencing, the judge may order a presentence investigation.

Exposure on common Green County felonies

• Burglary is a Class F felony, punishable by up to 12 years 6 months.
• Theft above $2,500 starts at Class I (up to 3 years 6 months); above $5,000 it becomes Class H (up to 6 years), and above $10,000 Class G (up to 10 years) or more.
• Possession with intent to deliver is graded by the drug and the amount, with the largest quantities of drugs like methamphetamine or heroin reaching Class C (up to 40 years).
• Substantial battery is a Class I felony, while aggravated battery rises to Class H, or to Class E with up to 15 years, if the defendant meant to cause great bodily harm.

Prison sentences under Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing law are bifurcated into initial confinement and extended supervision, and there is no parole for offenses after 1999, though the Challenge Incarceration and Substance Abuse programs can shorten confinement for some. Green County also runs a hybrid OWI and drug treatment court for moderate- to high-risk participants, which can serve as an alternative to revocation for people on supervision. Plan on six months to a year for a felony case.

Homicides are rare in Green County, and the Sheriff's Office or a city police department usually calls in the state Division of Criminal Investigation. In serious violent cases the judge can set high cash bail and, since a 2023 constitutional amendment, may consider the risk of serious harm to the public; defendants unable to meet those terms remain at the Green County Jail through the case.

Sentencing ranges

• First-degree intentional homicide (Class A): life in prison is mandatory, and the judge sets an eligibility date for extended supervision or rules it out.
• First-degree reckless homicide and second-degree intentional homicide (Class B): up to 60 years.
• First-degree sexual assault (Class B): up to 60 years, with mandatory minimum confinement for certain child victims.
• Armed robbery (Class C): up to 40 years; robbery by force (Class E): up to 15 years.

No Green County case can bring a death sentence, because Wisconsin ended capital punishment in 1853.

Timeline and rights

Expect one to two years from charge to verdict or plea, because of lab work, expert testimony and motions. With only two judges, a major trial can reshape the Justice Center's calendar for weeks. Victims are protected by Marsy's Law, the 2020 amendment to the state constitution that guarantees notice and a voice at key hearings. Eligible defendants are represented through the State Public Defender's Monroe office.

Green County's juvenile court, the circuit court acting in its juvenile role at the Justice Center, handles delinquency cases for children aged 10 to 16. Seventeen-year-olds are prosecuted as adults in Wisconsin and are held, if necessary, at the Green County Jail.

Intake by Human Services

Police referrals go to the Children, Youth and Families unit of Green County Human Services, N3152 State Highway 81, Monroe ((608) 328-9384). An intake worker decides whether to close the matter, offer a deferred prosecution agreement or refer it for a delinquency petition, which the District Attorney files.

If the child is held

Green County has no secure juvenile detention center of its own. A youth who needs secure custody is taken to a detention center that accepts Green County placements, commonly the Rock County Juvenile Detention Center in Janesville or the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center in Madison. A custody hearing generally must occur within 24 hours after the intake decision to hold the child, excluding weekends and legal holidays. Children have a right to counsel, and the State Public Defender represents juveniles without applying the adult income test.

Outcomes

• Closing the case, a deferred prosecution agreement or a consent decree.
• An adjudication with in-home supervision, treatment, restitution or community service.
• Out-of-home or Type 2 placement in a group home or residential center.
• A Type 1 correctional placement at Lincoln Hills School for boys or Copper Lake School for girls, or the Serious Juvenile Offender program, for the most serious cases.

Adult court for some youths

Prosecutors may petition for waiver to adult court, generally for youths at least 14 depending on the charge. Adult court has original jurisdiction over children 10 and older charged with first-degree intentional homicide or an attempt, first-degree reckless homicide or certain other homicides, and over some previously adjudicated juveniles accused of specified new crimes. Juvenile records are generally kept confidential.

Federal prosecutions arising in Green County belong to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, whose clerk's office and courtrooms are in Madison, roughly an hour's drive north of Monroe.

• Federal court clerk's office (Western District of Wisconsin), Room 320, 120 North Henry Street, Madison, WI 53703, (608) 264-5156
• U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison (federal prosecutors for Green County), Suite 700, 222 West Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53703, (608) 264-5158
• Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Madison office (represents Green County defendants who qualify), Suite 1000, 22 East Mifflin Street, Madison, WI 53703, (608) 260-9900; private Criminal Justice Act lawyers handle conflict cases

When federal law takes over

A Green County case can become federal when it involves drug distribution across state lines, which is common so close to Illinois, a firearm possessed by someone barred from having one, a bank robbery, online child exploitation, or mail, wire or bank fraud. The county has no reservation or national forest land; under Public Law 280, Wisconsin's state courts generally handle crimes on tribal lands in the state, except on the Menominee Reservation.

The federal track

After arrest, the defendant goes before a magistrate judge in Madison and receives appointed counsel if needed. Federal courts do not use a cash bail schedule; under the Bail Reform Act, the judge releases the person on conditions overseen by U.S. Pretrial Services or orders detention, generally after a hearing held within three court days of the government's request. If the case started with a complaint, an indictment must follow within 30 days, and the Speedy Trial Act's 70-day limit is often extended. A 12-person jury must be unanimous, but pleas resolve most cases.

Judges sentence after a presentence report, using the advisory Guidelines and any mandatory minimum. Because federal parole no longer exists, a Green County defendant sent to the Bureau of Prisons can expect to serve roughly 85 percent of the sentence before supervised release begins. Appeals from Madison are decided by the Seventh Circuit, based in Chicago. Federal charges against juveniles are uncommon.

Finding someone in federal custody

To find a Green County resident in a federal prison, type a name or register number into the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. When the U.S. Marshals hold a Green County defendant in a county jail by agreement before a federal trial, that jail's roster can show the person too.