Which court hears your case. Under Wisconsin law a first OWI counts as a civil forfeiture matter, unless a child below 16 was in the vehicle, and, like other ordinance tickets, it is decided by the municipal court for the community where the officer stopped the car. In Juneau County that is the Regional Center Municipal Court for Elroy, Kendall, Union Center and Wonewoc; the Mauston Area Municipal Court for Mauston, New Lisbon, Necedah and the Town of Germantown; or the Wisconsin Dells court for the corner of that city that lies in the county. Tickets from Camp Douglas, Lyndon Station, Hustler and the towns, along with state citations on the interstate, are answered in the Juneau County Circuit Court unless the citation points elsewhere. Misdemeanors and criminal traffic matters like a second OWI belong to the circuit court in Mauston, and so do felonies, which stay there through the initial appearance, preliminary hearing, arraignment and trial. The two branches divide the criminal docket.

Where pretrial inmates are held. People held after booking stay in the Juneau County Jail at the Justice Center, 200 Oak Street, Mauston, steps from the courtrooms. Calling the Sheriff's Office at (608) 847-9517 is the way to confirm custody or learn how to post bail. No bail bond businesses are allowed in Wisconsin, and a cash amount is paid in full.

• Juneau County Circuit Court (Branch 1, Branch 2), Juneau County Justice Center, 200 Oak St., Mauston 53948; Clerk of Circuit Court (608) 847-9356
• Juneau County District Attorney, Justice Center, 200 Oak St., (608) 847-9314
• Juneau County Sheriff's Office, Room 1110, 200 Oak St., Mauston, (608) 847-9517
• Juneau County Jail, 200 Oak St., Mauston 53948, (608) 847-9517
• Baraboo trial office, Wisconsin State Public Defender (assigned to Juneau, Sauk and Marquette counties), Oak Street in Baraboo (No. 619), (608) 355-3180
• Juneau County Human Services (juvenile intake), 200 Hickory St., Mauston, (608) 847-2400; after hours (608) 847-6161

From Necedah at the north end to Wonewoc at the south, every state charge filed in Juneau County is heard at the Mauston Justice Center. Ordinance cases go to joint municipal courts shared by several communities.

Circuit court

• Juneau County Circuit Court, Justice Center, 200 Oak St., Mauston 53948. Clerk of Circuit Court, (608) 847-9356; jury questions, (608) 847-9350. Branch 1 and Branch 2 both carry criminal, traffic and juvenile calendars.

Municipal courts serving Juneau County communities

• Regional Center Municipal Court: Elroy (city) and the villages of Union Center and Wonewoc, joined by Kendall from Monroe County and by Hillsboro and Ontario in neighboring Vernon County. Office: 339 High St., P.O. Box 3, Union Center 53962, (608) 464-7667
• Mauston Area Municipal Court: the cities of Mauston and New Lisbon, the Village of Necedah and the Town of Germantown. Office: 303 Mansion St., Mauston 53948, (608) 847-2488. State caseload figures for 2024 list no filings for this court, so a ticket from one of these communities might be routed to the circuit court; the citation names the court to appear in.
• Wisconsin Dells Municipal Court: the City of Wisconsin Dells, part of which lies in Juneau County. Office: No. 300 La Crosse St., Wisconsin Dells, phone 608-254-2442.

A municipal court can only decide ordinance violations, and its penalty is a forfeiture rather than jail; unpaid forfeitures, though, may lead to a suspended license or a short commitment. In some situations a Juneau County defendant may be permitted to shift a municipal matter up to the circuit court, so check with the court clerk or a lawyer promptly after getting the ticket.

Prosecution, defense, police and youth services

• District Attorney, 200 Oak St., Mauston, (608) 847-9314
• State Public Defender, Baraboo office, 619 Oak St., Baraboo, (608) 355-3180
• Sheriff's Office, Room 1110, 200 Oak St., Mauston, (608) 847-9517
• Mauston Police Department, 303 Mansion St., Mauston, (608) 847-6363
• Other departments: police in New Lisbon, Necedah, Elroy and Lyndon Station, and the Wisconsin Dells Police Department in that city's Juneau County area; elsewhere the Sheriff's deputies respond
• Human Services, 200 Hickory St., Mauston, (608) 847-2400

Traffic stops on the interstate, summer crowds around Castle Rock Lake and the Dells, and family disputes produce most Juneau County misdemeanors.

After the arrest

Booking for an arrested adult happens at the Juneau County Jail in Mauston. If the offense is minor, the jail may let the person leave on a signature bond, which costs nothing unless a court date is later missed, or the officer may just write a citation listing a court date. If the person stays in jail, a judge or court commissioner holds the initial appearance, in most cases within two days and often on video. Release conditions set at that hearing may include a cash amount, no alcohol, and orders to keep away from a victim or a particular address. After a domestic abuse arrest, Juneau County defendants are also barred from seeing or calling the alleged victim for three full days once out of jail, a rule the victim can waive only in writing.

What a Juneau County misdemeanor can mean

• Class A: a maximum of nine months in jail and $10,000. Battery, criminal trespass to a dwelling and smaller thefts ($2,500 or under) fall here.
• Class B: a maximum of ninety days and $1,000. This is where disorderly conduct sits, often paired with a domestic abuse modifier.
• Class C: a maximum of thirty days and $500.
• OWI: when no child under 16 was riding along, a first offense is civil and brings a $150 to $300 forfeiture, costs, a revocation of six to nine months, an assessment, and an ignition interlock whenever the driver refused or tested at 0.15 or above. A second within ten years is a crime with mandatory jail of five days up to six months. A fourth generally becomes a felony.

Counsel, outcomes and how long it takes

Juneau County defendants apply for appointed counsel through the State Public Defender's Baraboo office, (608) 355-3180, or by starting an application at the jail. The agency's financial standard is strict. A person it rejects who still has no money for a lawyer may ask a Juneau County judge for an attorney paid by the county; the judge can say yes or no. Cases end in dismissal, deferred prosecution, fines, probation or jail, and jail is often served with Huber privileges, letting the inmate leave for work during the day. Six jurors hear a misdemeanor trial. Juneau County misdemeanors generally run two to six months.

Much of the felony work in Mauston comes from drugs found during Interstate 90/94 traffic stops, break-ins at rural houses and cottages, and repeat drunk driving.

Felony procedure in Juneau County

1. Complaint. A criminal complaint drafted by the DA's office sets out the alleged facts.
2. Initial appearance. The court reads the charges, checks for probable cause and sets bail and conditions. Under a constitutional change approved in 2023, a judge setting cash in a violent-crime case may account for the danger the accused poses. A defendant who cannot pay stays at the Juneau County Jail.
3. Preliminary hearing. A Juneau County defendant jailed on cash he or she cannot raise gets this hearing within ten days, and others within twenty. It concerns probable cause only and is frequently waived.
4. Information and arraignment. With the DA's information on file, arraignment follows and a plea is entered.
5. Negotiation or trial. Plea agreements settle most felonies. Trials use twelve jurors, and every one must agree; on a speedy-trial demand, the court is generally required to begin within ninety days, subject to exceptions.
6. Sentencing. Frequently preceded by a presentence investigation.

Juneau County felony penalties

• Burglary, Class F: the maximum is 12.5 years in prison, with a fine as large as $25,000.
• Theft above $2,500: graded as I up to $5,000, as H up to $10,000, and as G (ten years) beyond.
• Substantial battery, Class I: three and a half years. Aggravated battery: Class H or Class E.
• Possession with intent to deliver: from Class I up to Class C based on the drug and amount; large amounts of fentanyl, heroin or meth draw the highest classes.
• Comparison points: B is sixty years, C forty, D twenty-five, E fifteen and H six.

After sentencing

Truth in sentencing makes every Wisconsin prison sentence bifurcated, initial confinement first and then extended supervision; offenses committed after 1999 carry no parole. A person whom the judge makes eligible can finish Challenge Incarceration or the Substance Abuse Program, then move to supervision sooner. Sentences of a year or less are spent at the Mauston jail, and longer ones in the state prison system. First-offense felony defendants often get probation. Eligible Juneau County defendants are represented by Baraboo-based State Public Defender attorneys or by private lawyers the agency appoints. Expect six to twelve months.

Homicides and armed robberies are rare in Juneau County, and the Sheriff's Office often teams with state Division of Criminal Investigation agents when one occurs. Prosecutors typically seek a high cash bail, and any defendant unable to post it remains at the Juneau County Jail until the case is over.

Penalties for the most serious offenses

• First-degree intentional homicide: Class A and a mandatory life sentence. The Juneau County judge sets an extended-supervision eligibility date or declares there will be none. Wisconsin did away with the death penalty in 1853.
• Second-degree intentional homicide, as well as first-degree reckless homicide: Class B, a sixty-year maximum.
• First-degree sexual assault: Class B, sixty years, and some crimes against young children require minimum confinement.
• Armed robbery: Class C, forty years. Robbery without a weapon: Class E, fifteen years.

Timeline and victims' rights

The felony sequence applies, but forensic tests, experts and motions slow it, and one to two years between charge and verdict is common in Mauston. Marsy's Law, part of Wisconsin's constitution since 2020, gives Juneau County victims a right to know about hearings, to be in the courtroom, and to describe for the judge what the offense cost them; the District Attorney's office, (608) 847-9314, assists them. A defendant too poor to hire counsel gets one through the State Public Defender, whether a Baraboo staff attorney or an appointed private lawyer.

Juvenile court in Wisconsin reaches ages 10 through 16; from 17 on, a person charged with a crime is tried in adult court. At the Mauston Justice Center, Juneau County's circuit judges also preside over juvenile court, where delinquency proceedings are, as a rule, closed to the public.

Intake and secure custody

After taking a child into custody, officers contact juvenile intake at Juneau County Human Services, (608) 847-2400 in the daytime or (608) 847-6161 after hours. The intake worker chooses between sending the child home, a nonsecure placement and secure detention, and may also close the referral, propose deferred prosecution, or pass the case to the District Attorney, who weighs whether a delinquency petition is warranted. Juneau County has no secure detention center of its own. Youths needing secure custody are transported out of county to a contracting center, typically either the La Crosse County Juvenile Detention Center, about an hour west, or the Portage County Juvenile Detention Center to the north in Stevens Point (715-346-1263). A child held in detention is generally owed a custody hearing within 24 hours after intake's decision, with weekends and legal holidays excluded.

Results in juvenile court

• Deferred prosecution or a consent decree, after which the matter can close with no adjudication if the youth follows the terms.
• After an adjudication: supervision at home, repaying victims, unpaid community work, treatment, or out-of-home care (foster parents, a group home, residential treatment).
• Type 2 placement; Type 1 commitment to the secure juvenile campus near Irma, made up of Lincoln Hills School and Copper Lake School; and, for the most serious offenses, the Serious Juvenile Offender program.

Adult prosecution of a juvenile

The Juneau County District Attorney may ask to have a youth 14 or older waived into adult court, and rarely for a younger child facing a very serious charge. Original adult court jurisdiction, with no waiver hearing, covers a Juneau County child 10 or older who stands accused of one of four homicide-level charges (first-degree intentional homicide, attempting that crime, first-degree reckless homicide, felony murder), plus certain youths, already adjudicated delinquent, who face listed new charges. A defense lawyer should go over these rules for any particular child; every juvenile is entitled to an attorney, generally one supplied by the State Public Defender's Baraboo office. Juvenile records are confidential in most respects.

Federal charges from Juneau County are brought in the Western District of Wisconsin and heard in Madison, roughly 70 miles southeast of Mauston along the interstate.

• Clerk of the Western District: 120 N. Henry St., Room 320, Madison, (608) 264-5156
• U.S. Attorney's Office: 222 W. Washington Ave., Suite 700, Madison, (608) 264-5158
• Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin (Madison): 22 E. Mifflin St., Suite 1000, (608) 260-9900; conflict cases are reassigned to private attorneys from the court's CJA panel
• U.S. Pretrial Services Office: 222 W. Washington Ave., Suite 340, Madison, (608) 264-5165

Federal ground and federal crimes in Juneau County

A large tract of northern Juneau County around the Village of Necedah is the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Poaching, timber theft, assaults and other offenses on refuge land may be charged federally, though state jurisdiction often applies too. Outside the refuge, federal cases from Juneau County tend to involve trafficking on Interstate 90/94, guns held by prohibited persons, robberies of banks, the exploitation of children, and fraud. There is no reservation in Juneau County. The Ho-Chunk Nation has scattered trust land in this region; crimes there generally fall under Wisconsin's Public Law 280 jurisdiction and are tried in state court, and the Nation maintains its own courts as well.

How a federal case proceeds

At a federal arrestee's first court appearance, a Madison magistrate judge explains the charge and, for a Juneau County defendant who cannot pay a lawyer, arranges representation by the Federal Defender or by a CJA attorney. Federal judges do not set cash bail the way the Mauston court does. The Bail Reform Act applies: at a detention hearing, which generally takes place inside three court days, the presiding judge either jails the defendant pending trial or releases him or her under conditions that Pretrial Services enforces. In a case opened by complaint, the grand jury's indictment carries a thirty-day deadline, and the Speedy Trial Act's seventy days are often extended. Unanimous twelve-person juries decide federal trials, but guilty pleas end most prosecutions. Before imposing sentence, the judge reviews a probation officer's presentence report, calculates the advisory Guidelines and honors any statutory minimum. Because federal sentences are not parole-eligible, Juneau County defendants typically serve some 85 percent of their time before moving to supervised release. The appellate court is the Seventh Circuit, seated in Chicago.

Searching for a federal prisoner

Juneau County relatives can find which prison holds a federal inmate from Mauston or Necedah with a name or register-number search on the official site, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. Defendants the U.S. Marshals board in county jails before a federal trial may also be shown on those jails' rosters. Federal cases against Juneau County juveniles are rare. On related state charges, the State Public Defender's Baraboo office remains the place to apply.