Green Lake County Correctional Facility Criminal Court Process

1. Local courts in Green Lake County (circuit court and municipal courts)

Which court hears your case. A local ordinance citation, or a first-offense OWI, which is a civil forfeiture in Wisconsin unless a child younger than 16 was in the car, is decided in the municipal court for the place it was issued. Berlin, Green Lake, Markesan and Princeton are members of the Lakeside Municipal Court, which holds Green Lake County sessions at the Berlin and Green Lake city halls. Tickets from Kingston, Marquette, Dalton and the towns, and most citations written by deputies or the State Patrol, are filed in the Green Lake County Circuit Court unless the municipality has its own court; the citation names the court. Every misdemeanor, every criminal traffic offense such as a second OWI, and every felony is handled by that one circuit judge, from initial appearance and preliminary hearing through trial, with a court commissioner taking some early hearings.

Where pretrial inmates are held. Arrested adults who are not released are booked into the Green Lake County Correctional Facility, opened in July 2010 beside the courthouse at 571 County Road A. Cash bail is paid at a kiosk in the jail lobby on the south side of the building, which takes cash or a debit card and gives no change, after telling corrections staff; during weekday hours when the Clerk of Circuit Court is open, people posting for a Green Lake County case are sent to the clerk instead. The corrections line is (920) 294-4059.

• Green Lake County Circuit Court (one branch) and Clerk of Circuit Court, 571 County Road A, Green Lake, WI 54941; Clerk (920) 294-4145
• Green Lake County District Attorney, Green Lake County Justice Facility, 571 County Road A (P.O. Box 3188), Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4046
• Green Lake County Sheriff's Office, 571 County Road A, Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4000
• Green Lake County Correctional Facility, 571 County Road A, Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4059
• Wisconsin State Public Defender, Fond du Lac office (serves Green Lake and Fond du Lac counties), 25 3rd Street, Fond du Lac, WI 54935, (920) 929-3990
• Green Lake County Department of Health and Human Services (juvenile intake), 571 County Road A (P.O. Box 588), Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4070 or (800) 664-3588

The courtroom, clerk, District Attorney, Sheriff and jail all share one campus at 571 County Road A, just outside the city of Green Lake.

Circuit court

• Green Lake County Circuit Court, 571 County Road A, Green Lake, WI 54941. Clerk of Circuit Court (criminal, traffic and forfeiture cases, payments and court dates): (920) 294-4145

Municipal court

• Lakeside Municipal Court, a joint court based in North Fond du Lac (16 Garfield Street, North Fond du Lac, WI 54937), (920) 924-2479. Its Green Lake County members are the cities of Berlin, Green Lake, Markesan and Princeton. Local hearings are held at Berlin City Hall, second-floor council chambers, 108 North Capron Street, Berlin, and at Green Lake City Hall, 534 Mill Street, Green Lake. Initial appearances are usually on the second Wednesday of the month and trials on the third.

The villages of Kingston and Marquette and the county's towns are not listed as members, so their ordinance cases generally go to the circuit court unless the municipality has a court of its own. A municipal court in Wisconsin deals only with ordinance violations and can order forfeitures, costs and driver's license penalties, but not jail, apart from limited consequences for failing to pay. In some circumstances a defendant may be able to have a municipal citation moved to the circuit court, so act on the ticket's deadlines.

Prosecutor, defender and youth services

• Green Lake County District Attorney, 571 County Road A, P.O. Box 3188, Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4046; Victim/Witness Assistance (920) 294-4047
• State Public Defender trial office covering Green Lake County, in Fond du Lac at 25 3rd Street, (920) 929-3990
• Green Lake County Health and Human Services, 571 County Road A, P.O. Box 588, Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4070; after hours through the Sheriff at (920) 294-4000

Law enforcement

• Green Lake County Sheriff's Office, 571 County Road A, Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-4000
• Berlin Police Department, 108 North Capron Street, Berlin, WI 54923, (920) 361-0444
• Green Lake Police Department, 534 Mill Street, Green Lake, WI 54941, (920) 294-6333
• Markesan Police Department, 150 South Bridge Street, Markesan, WI 53946, (920) 398-2121

Deputies patrol the rural towns and villages. Wisconsin bans commercial bail bonding, so money set by the court is posted directly by the defendant or family.

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2. Misdemeanor (for example, theft, battery, disorderly conduct, a second OWI)

Summer boating and resort traffic on Big Green Lake add drunk-driving and disorderly conduct cases; the rest of the year brings retail thefts, domestic calls and paraphernalia charges.

Release or a night in jail

An officer can cite and release someone on a minor charge, and the jail can let a person out on a signature bond, meaning a signed promise to return that may name an amount owed only for a missed date. Otherwise the person waits in the Green Lake County Correctional Facility to see the judge or commissioner, normally within 48 hours. After a domestic abuse arrest, which is mandatory in many situations, the accused must avoid the alleged victim for 72 hours unless the victim waives that in writing. At the initial appearance the complaint is read or summarized and conditions are set: a cash amount, no alcohol, or a ban on contact.

Lawyers

Green Lake County does not have its own public defender office; the State Public Defender's Fond du Lac office, (920) 929-3990, takes applications, often by meeting people at the jail. Its income test is strict. A defendant who misses the cutoff but genuinely cannot pay for a lawyer can ask the Green Lake County judge whether counsel can be appointed at county expense.

Ranges for common Green Lake County charges

• Theft of $2,500 or less, battery, and criminal trespass to a dwelling are Class A misdemeanors. In the Green Lake courtroom each can bring up to 9 months in jail and a fine of as much as $10,000.
• Disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor, is capped at 90 days and $1,000; with a domestic abuse modifier it also triggers a surcharge and loss of gun rights.
• The lowest level, Class C, allows a judge to impose no more than 30 days and $500.
• A second OWI in ten years becomes a crime: the Green Lake County court must order between 5 days and 6 months of confinement, a fine, revocation, an alcohol assessment and an ignition interlock. A fourth offense is generally a felony.
• A first OWI remains a forfeiture of $150 to $300 plus costs, with 6 to 9 months of revocation, an assessment and, at 0.15 or above or after a refusal, an interlock.

How it usually ends

First offenders may be offered deferred prosecution by the District Attorney, ending in dismissal if they complete it. Otherwise the result is often a plea to a lesser count with a fine, probation, or jail time that can be served with Huber privileges, which at the Green Lake jail are carried out through an electronic monitoring program at an approved residence. A misdemeanor trial in Green Lake goes to a six-member jury, and a speedy trial demand generally requires trial within 60 days, with exceptions. A typical Green Lake misdemeanor wraps up in two to six months.

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3. Felony (for example, burglary, felony theft, drug possession with intent to deliver, substantial battery)

Burglaries of seasonal cottages and farm buildings, methamphetamine deliveries, felony OWIs and violations of release conditions make up much of the Green Lake County felony calendar.

The steps

1. Booking. The person is taken to the Green Lake County Correctional Facility and held for the first hearing.
2. Charging. The District Attorney files a criminal complaint listing each count and the facts behind it.
3. Initial appearance. The court sets bail and conditions and addresses counsel. For violent charges, a 2023 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution allows the court to take into account the risk of serious harm when setting conditions and cash bail.
4. Preliminary hearing. The Green Lake County judge or commissioner must find probable cause that the defendant committed a felony. If the defendant is jailed on a bail he or she cannot meet, the hearing is due in 10 days; otherwise in 20. Waiving it is common.
5. Information and arraignment. Once bound over, the case proceeds on an information filed by the prosecutor, and the defendant pleads to it at arraignment.
6. Plea or trial. Plea agreements settle most cases. A felony jury in Green Lake County is made up of twelve residents who must all agree, and a speedy trial demand generally means trial within 90 days, with exceptions.

Penalties

• Burglary: a Class F felony, up to 12.5 years and $25,000.
• Felony theft: Class I above $2,500 and through $5,000; Class H above $5,000 and through $10,000; Class G above $10,000, with maximums of 3.5, 6 and 10 years.
• Possession with intent to deliver: depends on the drug and amount, from Class I at the low end for marijuana to Class C for the largest quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine.
• Substantial battery is a Class I felony. Aggravated battery is charged as Class H, or as Class E when the accused intended great bodily harm.

Sentences

Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing system means a Green Lake County prison sentence is divided into time in confinement and time on extended supervision, with no parole for offenses after 1999. Jail sentences of less than a year are served at the County Road A facility, while prison sentences go to the Department of Corrections. Probation is a frequent result for a first felony. A Green Lake County felony usually takes six to twelve months, and the State Public Defender, directly or through appointed private attorneys, defends those who qualify.

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4. Violent felony (for example, homicide, sexual assault, armed robbery)

Homicides and armed robberies are rare in Green Lake County, and on a major case the Sheriff's Office may call on state investigators for help. At the first hearing the prosecution may ask for high cash bail, and a defendant who cannot post it stays in the Green Lake County Correctional Facility.

Penalties

• First-degree intentional homicide is Class A and carries mandatory life. The judge chooses an eligibility date for extended supervision or orders that the person never be released.
• A conviction for second-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide in Green Lake County exposes the defendant to as many as 60 years, the Class B maximum.
• First-degree sexual assault is also Class B (up to 60 years), and certain assaults of young children require a minimum prison term.
• Armed robbery is Class C, with a maximum of 40 years; robbery without a dangerous weapon is a Class E felony with a 15-year cap.

The state has not had a death penalty since 1853.

The road to trial

Pretrial litigation over evidence, experts and competency often stretches a Green Lake homicide or sexual assault case to a year or two. Marsy's Law, adopted in 2020, guarantees victims notice and a voice at key stages; the District Attorney's victim/witness office at (920) 294-4047 keeps them informed. Green Lake County defendants who qualify are defended through the State Public Defender's Fond du Lac office.

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5. Juveniles (under 17) arrested in Green Lake County

Because Wisconsin's juvenile court ends at 16, a 17-year-old arrested at a Green Lake party or a Berlin store is prosecuted as an adult. Children 10 through 16 come before the Green Lake County Circuit Court sitting as juvenile court.

Who decides what happens first

Juvenile intake belongs to the Green Lake County Department of Health and Human Services, 571 County Road A, (920) 294-4070; after hours, intake is reached through the Sheriff's Office. The intake worker can send the youth home, choose a shelter or other non-secure placement, or order secure custody. The worker may also close the case, offer a deferred prosecution agreement, or refer it to the District Attorney to file a delinquency petition.

Detention

Green Lake County has no juvenile detention center of its own, so a youth who must be held securely is taken to a center in another county under contract, commonly the Fond du Lac County Juvenile Detention Center in Fond du Lac. If a child is held, a custody hearing generally has to take place within 24 hours after the intake decision, with weekends and legal holidays excluded. The State Public Defender appoints a lawyer for the child, and family income does not affect that.

Outcomes

• Deferred prosecution or a consent decree, with the case dismissed once conditions are met.
• A delinquency finding with supervision, counseling, restitution, community service, or placement with a foster family, group home or treatment center.
• For the gravest offenses, a Type 1 commitment to Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School in Irma, a Type 2 placement, or the Serious Juvenile Offender program.

Adult prosecution

The District Attorney can ask the juvenile judge to waive a youth into adult court, generally from age 14 for specified serious felonies and from 15 for any felony. Adult court starts with original jurisdiction, with no waiver at all, when a child of at least 10 is accused of attempted or completed first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide or felony murder, and in certain cases where a youth already adjudicated delinquent commits a new listed offense. Juvenile court records are generally confidential.

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6. Federal cases (U.S. District Court) from Green Lake County

Green Lake County falls in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Its federal criminal cases are handled in the Milwaukee division, about 90 miles away.

• Federal court clerk's office for the Eastern District, U.S. Courthouse, 517 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202, (414) 297-3372
• U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 517 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 530, Milwaukee, WI 53202, (414) 297-1700
• Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Milwaukee office, 411 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 2310, Milwaukee, WI 53202, (414) 221-9900; if it has a conflict, the court picks a lawyer from its Criminal Justice Act panel

What brings a Green Lake case to federal court

A Green Lake case may go federal when it involves drug trafficking across county or state lines, a firearm in the hands of someone federally prohibited from having one, a bank robbery, child sexual exploitation online, or fraud involving federal money, banks or the mail. No reservation or federal tribal trust land lies in Green Lake County, and the county has no major federal land holdings.

The federal process

The State Public Defender's Fond du Lac office does not take federal cases; instead a federal magistrate judge in Milwaukee appoints a federal defender or panel lawyer at the first appearance. Commercial bail plays no role. If the prosecutor asks for detention, the hearing is ordinarily held within three court days, and the magistrate decides under the Bail Reform Act between release on conditions supervised by Pretrial Services and detention until trial. An indictment must follow a complaint within 30 days, and the Speedy Trial Act's 70-day trial deadline is often extended. A Green Lake resident who goes to trial in Milwaukee faces twelve federal jurors who must all agree. A federal probation officer's presentence report, the advisory Guidelines and any mandatory minimum shape the sentence. Federal prisoners are not paroled and serve around 85 percent of their sentence in the Bureau of Prisons before supervised release begins. The Seventh Circuit in Chicago takes appeals.

Locating someone

To find a person serving or awaiting a federal sentence, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number. A federal pretrial detainee kept in a county jail for the Marshals Service can also turn up on that county jail's own inmate list. Federal charges against juveniles from Green Lake County are very unusual.

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