Which court hears your case. A ticket for violating a local ordinance, including a first-offense OWI (a civil forfeiture in Wisconsin, not a crime, unless a child under 16 was in the vehicle), goes to the municipal court that serves the city or village where it happened: the Mid-Moraine Municipal Court for Mequon, Cedarburg, Grafton, Port Washington, Saukville, Thiensville and Fredonia, or the North Shore Municipal Court for Bayside. Where no municipal court applies, as with most of the towns and with citations written by the Sheriff's deputies or the State Patrol, the ticket is filed in the circuit court. Misdemeanors and criminal traffic charges, such as a second OWI or driving after revocation, go to the Ozaukee County Circuit Court, whose branches share the criminal and traffic calendar. Felonies also stay in the circuit court from the initial appearance through the preliminary hearing and trial.

Where pretrial inmates are held. Adults who are not released after arrest are kept at the Ozaukee County Jail, which the Sheriff runs inside the Justice Center at 1201 S. Spring Street, a short walk from the courtrooms where their first hearings take place. Cash bail set by a judge or court commissioner is posted for the defendant there or with the Clerk of Circuit Court. For custody status or release questions, call the Sheriff's Office at (262) 284-7172.

• Ozaukee County Circuit Court, Ozaukee County Justice Center, 1201 S. Spring Street, P.O. Box 994, Port Washington, WI 53074; Clerk of Circuit Court (262) 284-8409
• Ozaukee County District Attorney, Justice Center, 1201 S. Spring Street, Room 215, Port Washington, WI 53074; victim/witness program (262) 238-8387
• Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, 1201 S. Spring Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 284-7172
• Ozaukee County Jail, 1201 S. Spring Street, Port Washington, WI 53074; call the Sheriff's Office at (262) 284-7172
• Wisconsin State Public Defender, Port Washington office (serves Ozaukee County), 1032 S. Spring Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 273-4722
• Ozaukee County Human Services (juvenile intake), 121 W. Main Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 284-8200
• Mid-Moraine Municipal Court (ordinance cases for most Ozaukee cities and villages), administrative office in Washington County at 321 North Main Street, Suite 201, West Bend; (262) 334-5700

Two kinds of courts handle charges that arise in Ozaukee County. The circuit court in Port Washington is the state trial court and hears every crime. Municipal courts hear only violations of city and village ordinances; nearly all of the county's cities and villages belong to one joint court, Mid-Moraine, which holds sessions in each member community.

Circuit court

• Ozaukee County Circuit Court, Ozaukee County Justice Center, 1201 S. Spring Street, P.O. Box 994, Port Washington, WI 53074. The Clerk of Circuit Court, (262) 284-8409, keeps the criminal, traffic, forfeiture and juvenile files.

Municipal courts

• Mid-Moraine Municipal Court (joint court): phone (262) 334-5700; payments and filings go to its West Bend office, Suite 201 of 321 North Main Street, which is closed on Fridays. Ozaukee members are the Cities of Cedarburg, Mequon and Port Washington, the Villages of Fredonia, Grafton, Saukville and Thiensville, and the Town of Fredonia. Court sits locally: Cedarburg cases at the Cedarburg Police Department, W75 N444 Wauwatosa Road; Mequon cases at Mequon City Hall, 11333 N. Cedarburg Road; Grafton cases at Grafton Village Hall, 860 Badger Circle; Thiensville cases at Thiensville Village Hall, 250 Elm Street; Saukville cases at the Saukville Police Department, 649 E. Green Bay Avenue; and Port Washington and Fredonia cases at the Port Washington Safety Building, 1540 W. Grand Avenue. The Village of Newburg, which straddles the Washington County line, is also a member, with sessions at West Bend City Hall.
• North Shore Municipal Court (joint court for the Village of Bayside, the City of Glendale and the Village of Brown Deer), which sits in Milwaukee County at 5909 North Milwaukee River Parkway in Glendale (53209); (414) 228-1752. Bayside lies partly in Ozaukee County.

Municipalities that are not members of a municipal court, including the Village of Belgium and most of the county's towns, send their ordinance citations to the circuit court. A municipal court decides forfeiture cases only: it imposes fines, license consequences and orders such as an alcohol assessment, and it can jail someone only for refusing to pay. In certain situations a defendant may be able to move a municipal case to the circuit court, for example by asking for a jury, so read the citation and ask the court clerk promptly. Municipal judges do not set bail in criminal cases; that happens at the Justice Center.

Prosecution, defense, juvenile intake and police

• Ozaukee County District Attorney, Justice Center, Room 215, 1201 S. Spring Street, Port Washington, WI 53074; victim/witness program (262) 238-8387
• State Public Defender, Port Washington office, 1032 S. Spring Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 273-4722
• Ozaukee County Human Services, 121 W. Main Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 284-8200 (juvenile intake and youth services)
• Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, 1201 S. Spring Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 284-7172; deputies patrol the towns and smaller villages and run the jail, the Ozaukee County Jail
• Port Washington Police Department, 365 N. Wisconsin Street, Port Washington, WI 53074, (262) 284-2611
• Saukville Police Department, 649 E. Green Bay Avenue, Saukville, WI 53080, (262) 284-0444
• Other local departments: Mequon Police Department, Cedarburg Police Department (W75 N444 Wauwatosa Road), Grafton Police Department, Thiensville Police Department and Bayside Police Department

Typical misdemeanor arrests in Ozaukee County come from Interstate 43 traffic stops, retail theft at stores along the freeway corridor, bar-closing disputes, and domestic calls in the lakeshore cities.

Booking and release

The arresting officer, whether a Mequon or Grafton officer or a sheriff's deputy, brings the person to the Justice Center for booking: fingerprints, photographs and a records check. Plenty of misdemeanor arrests end with a citation and a court date, or with release on a signature bond, which is a written promise to appear that may carry a dollar amount owed only if the person misses court. Someone who is not released stays at the Ozaukee County Jail until an initial appearance, which usually happens within about 48 hours and is often handled by a court commissioner. If cash bail is set, family members post it themselves at the jail or with the clerk, because Wisconsin does not permit commercial bail bondsmen. Conditions such as no contact with an alleged victim, no alcohol, or no return to a particular store are common.

After an arrest for domestic abuse, Wisconsin law generally requires the person to stay away from the alleged victim's home and avoid contact for 72 hours, even if the victim consents.

The court process

The District Attorney reviews police reports and files a criminal complaint. At the initial appearance the court explains the charge and the possible penalties and sets release terms; at a later pretrial conference the prosecutor and defense discuss an offer. Anyone who cannot afford a lawyer can apply to the State Public Defender's Port Washington office at (262) 273-4722, or ask for an application at the jail; the agency applies a strict financial test, and a judge may appoint a lawyer at county expense for someone who fails that test but still cannot afford counsel. A misdemeanor that goes to trial is decided by a six-person jury.

Possible penalties in Ozaukee County cases

• Class A misdemeanor (theft of property worth $2,500 or less, battery, criminal trespass to a dwelling): a maximum of 9 months behind bars in Port Washington, a fine as high as $10,000, or a combination.
• Class B misdemeanor (disorderly conduct, frequently charged with a domestic abuse modifier): a jail term of no more than 90 days and a fine capped at $1,000.
• Class C misdemeanor: the least serious class, with a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
• Second OWI within 10 years: a criminal misdemeanor with a mandatory jail term of at least 5 days and as much as 6 months, plus a fine, license revocation, an alcohol or drug assessment and an ignition interlock. A first OWI is instead a forfeiture case: a fine of $150 to $300 plus costs, a 6- to 9-month revocation, an assessment, and an interlock when the test result is 0.15 or higher or the driver refused.

Common results include dismissal, a deferred prosecution agreement, fines, probation, or jail time that a judge may allow the person to serve with Huber release for work or treatment. Most Ozaukee misdemeanor cases are finished in two to six months.

Felony charges filed by the Ozaukee County District Attorney often involve burglaries of homes and garages, larger thefts and frauds, and drugs, especially fentanyl and other opioids moving up the I-43 corridor from Milwaukee.

Step by step

1. Booking and the first hearing. A person arrested for a felony is held at the Ozaukee County Jail until an initial appearance at the Justice Center, usually within 48 hours. The DA files a criminal complaint, and the judge or court commissioner sets bail: a signature bond or a cash amount with conditions.
2. Preliminary hearing. The court must find probable cause that a felony was committed. The hearing has to start within 10 days of the initial appearance if the defendant is in custody on bail he or she cannot post, and within 20 days otherwise. Defendants frequently waive it as part of negotiations.
3. Information and arraignment. After a bindover, the District Attorney files an information listing the formal charges, and the defendant enters a plea at arraignment.
4. Pretrial stage. Discovery, motions and plea discussions follow. A defendant may file a speedy trial demand, which in general requires a felony trial within 90 days, subject to exceptions.
5. Plea or trial. Most cases end in a plea agreement. At trial, 12 jurors must agree unanimously.

Penalty ranges

• Burglary: Class F felony, punishable by up to 12.5 years and $25,000.
• Theft over $2,500: a Class I felony up to $5,000 (up to 3.5 years), Class H up to $10,000 (up to 6 years), and Class G above that (up to 10 years).
• Substantial battery: Class I, which in Ozaukee County Circuit Court can bring a sentence of 3.5 years at most. Aggravated battery: Class H or Class E (up to 6 or 15 years).
• Possession with intent to deliver: the felony class depends on the drug and the amount, so a small amount of one drug and a large amount of another can carry very different maximums.
• The full scale runs from Class A (life) and Class B (60 years) through Class C (40 years), D (25 years), E (15 years), F (12.5 years), G (10 years), H (6 years) and I (3.5 years).

Under truth in sentencing, a prison term from an Ozaukee County judge is split into initial confinement and extended supervision, and there is no parole for crimes committed after 1999. Some people qualify for the Challenge Incarceration Program or the Substance Abuse Program, which can shorten the confinement portion. A sentence of less than a year is served in the county jail; a longer one is served in a state prison run by the Department of Corrections. Probation with conditional jail time is also common. Felony cases generally take six months to a year. The State Public Defender's Port Washington office handles intake for defendants who cannot pay a lawyer.

Ozaukee County records relatively few violent felonies, but when one is charged it follows the same circuit court path as other felonies, with closer attention to release and longer preparation for trial.

Release decisions

For a violent charge, the court commissioner or judge often sets a high cash bail with strict conditions, which means the defendant is likely to remain in the Ozaukee County Jail while the case is pending. A 2023 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution lets judges consider the risk of serious harm to the public, among other factors, when setting conditions and cash amounts for people accused of violent crimes. Release, if granted, can include GPS monitoring and no-contact orders.

Maximum penalties

• First-degree intentional homicide: Class A, mandatory life imprisonment; the judge decides whether and when the person may petition for release to extended supervision, or orders life without that possibility.
• Second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide: both Class B felonies, each exposing an Ozaukee County defendant to as long as 60 years.
• First-degree sexual assault: Class B, up to 60 years; offenses against young children can carry mandatory minimum confinement.
• Armed robbery: Class C, punishable in the Port Washington circuit court by as much as 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Plain robbery, with no weapon involved, is a Class E felony carrying up to 15 years.

Wisconsin abolished the death penalty in 1853. Victims have constitutional rights under Marsy's Law, adopted in 2020, including notice of hearings and the chance to be heard at plea and sentencing; the DA's victim/witness program, (262) 238-8387, explains those rights to families.

Timeline

Forensic testing, expert witnesses and motion practice usually push these cases to one or two years. The State Public Defender assigns experienced lawyers, often from its Port Washington office, to serious felonies; a defendant who does not qualify financially and cannot pay may ask the court to appoint counsel. Appeals go to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and, if accepted, the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Wisconsin prosecutes 17-year-olds as adults. A child aged 10 through 16 who is accused of a crime in Ozaukee County goes instead to the circuit court sitting as juvenile court, in the same Justice Center in Port Washington.

Intake and the petition

Police refer the case to juvenile intake at Ozaukee County Human Services, 121 W. Main Street, Port Washington, (262) 284-8200. The intake worker can close the matter, offer a deferred prosecution agreement, or recommend formal action. When formal action is chosen, the District Attorney files a delinquency petition. Unlike an adult, a juvenile is not released by posting bail; the question is whether the child can safely go home under conditions.

Detention

Ozaukee County has no secure juvenile detention center of its own. A youth who must be held securely is typically taken to a regional center that accepts Ozaukee referrals, most commonly the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center unit at 500 Rolfs Avenue in West Bend, (262) 306-2247. A child held in custody should receive a custody hearing within 24 hours after the intake decision, not counting weekends and legal holidays, where the court decides whether detention continues. Juveniles are not housed with adults at the Ozaukee County Jail.

Outcomes

• Dismissal, a deferred prosecution agreement, or a consent decree that suspends the case while the youth follows rules.
• A delinquency finding followed by supervision at home, restitution, community service, counseling or electronic monitoring.
• Out-of-home placement such as a foster or group home or residential treatment, with Type 2 placements for some.
• For the most serious cases, Type 1 placement at Lincoln Hills School (boys) or Copper Lake School (girls) in Irma, or the Serious Juvenile Offender program.

Transfer to adult court

The DA may ask the juvenile court to waive jurisdiction over a child 14 or older (or, for a few very serious charges, younger) so the case moves to adult court. Adult court also has original jurisdiction, generally, over a child 10 or older accused of attempted or completed first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide or felony murder, and over a juvenile previously adjudicated delinquent who is accused of certain new crimes. Juvenile court records are generally confidential. Children have a right to a lawyer, and the State Public Defender's Port Washington office represents most of them.

Ozaukee County is one of twelve counties assigned to the Milwaukee courthouse of the federal trial court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Federal charges from Mequon, Port Washington or anywhere else in the county are filed and heard in downtown Milwaukee, about 25 miles south of the Justice Center.

• Federal courthouse and clerk: 517 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee 53202; clerk's office (414) 297-3372
• Prosecutors: the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District, Suite 530 in the same building, (414) 297-1700
• Defense: Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Suite 2310 at 411 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee 53202, (414) 221-9900; if that office has a conflict of interest, an Ozaukee defendant is assigned a private attorney from the court's CJA list
• Pretrial supervision: Probation and Pretrial Services, Room 001 of the federal courthouse, (414) 297-1425

How an Ozaukee case becomes federal

Federal agents and local task forces bring Ozaukee cases to the U.S. Attorney when they involve drug trafficking across county or state lines, guns possessed by people barred from having them, bank robbery, online child exploitation, or wire, mail and investment fraud. The county contains no Indian reservation, and Wisconsin's Public Law 280 gives the state court system criminal jurisdiction over most tribal lands elsewhere in the state, so tribal jurisdiction rarely affects Ozaukee cases. A crime at a federal facility, such as a post office, may also be prosecuted federally.

What the federal process looks like

Someone arrested on a federal charge from Ozaukee County is brought before a federal magistrate judge in Milwaukee, hears the accusation, and receives appointed counsel if needed. Federal court has no cash bail system like the county's. Under the Bail Reform Act, the magistrate judge orders release on conditions supervised by Pretrial Services, or detention; a prosecution motion for detention is normally argued at a hearing within three court days. If the case began with a complaint, a grand jury indictment must normally follow within 30 days, and the Speedy Trial Act sets a 70-day trial clock that is often extended. If an Ozaukee federal case is tried, twelve jurors must reach a unanimous verdict, although guilty pleas end the large majority.

Sentencing follows a presentence investigation by a federal probation officer; the judge weighs the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and must impose any mandatory minimum that applies to the offense. Federal sentences carry no parole: with good-conduct credit, a prisoner generally serves about 85 percent of the term in a Bureau of Prisons facility before supervised release starts. Any appeal is heard by the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Juvenile prosecutions in federal court are rare.

Locating a federal prisoner

To check whether someone from Ozaukee County is in federal custody, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or by register number. If the person is being held before a federal trial in a county jail that rents beds to the Marshals Service, the name may also appear on that jail's own inmate roster.