Which court hears your case. In Wisconsin, breaking a local ordinance or driving drunk for the first time is normally a forfeiture case rather than a crime; a first OWI is criminal only if someone younger than 16 was in the vehicle. If the ticket was written in Lone Rock, or in Viola, it is returnable to that village's municipal court; tickets from Richland Center and other places without such a court are filed in the Richland County Circuit Court. That circuit court is also the only court for misdemeanors, for criminal traffic charges like a repeat OWI or operating while revoked, and for felonies, which begin with an initial appearance and preliminary hearing on Seminary Street and are tried there. With a single judge, criminal hearings are scheduled around civil, family, probate and juvenile matters.

Where pretrial inmates are held. The Sheriff's Office and its Richland County Jail use the same 181 West Seminary Street address as the courthouse, which keeps inmates close to the courtroom. Deputies and the Richland Center police book arrested adults there, and the jail holds them until they post cash bail, are released on a signature bond, or finish their case. Dispatch and jail staff answer around the clock at (608) 647-2106.

• Richland County Circuit Court, Richland County Courthouse, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581; Clerk of Circuit Court, P.O. Box 655, (608) 647-3956; judge's office (608) 647-2626
• Richland County District Attorney, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581, (608) 647-3493
• Richland County Sheriff's Office, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581; administration (608) 647-8906; 24-hour dispatch and jail (608) 647-2106 or (800) 544-2106
• Richland County Jail, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581, (608) 647-2106
• Wisconsin State Public Defender, Lancaster trial office (covers Richland along with Grant, Iowa and Crawford counties), Suite A, 207 W. Maple St., Lancaster 53813, (608) 401-2030
• Richland County Health and Human Services (juvenile intake), Community Services Building, 221 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581, (608) 647-8821

Richland County has about 17,000 residents and one circuit judge, Branch 1 of the Richland County Circuit Court. Everything except village ordinance tickets from Lone Rock and Viola is decided in Richland Center.

Circuit court

• Richland County Circuit Court (single branch), Richland County Courthouse, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581. Criminal, traffic and forfeiture filings, payments and court dates are handled by the Clerk of Circuit Court, (608) 647-3956.

Municipal courts

• Lone Rock Municipal Court (Village of Lone Rock), P.O. Box 172, Lone Rock, WI 53556, (608) 604-6583
• Kickapoo River Municipal Court, a joint court for the Village of Viola, which lies partly in Richland County, and the Vernon County village of Readstown: P.O. Box 38, Viola 54664, (608) 627-1831

Those are the only Richland County entries in the state's 2021 municipal court directory. It shows no court for Richland Center, Boaz, Cazenovia, Yuba or the towns, so their ordinance tickets appear on the circuit court calendar unless a community has started a court since. A municipal court judge in Lone Rock or Viola can order forfeitures for ordinance violations but cannot sentence anyone to jail for the violation itself; if the forfeiture is never paid, the judge may suspend a license or, as a last step, order brief confinement. There are limited situations in which the defendant may have a municipal case transferred to the circuit court, so it is worth asking a lawyer early.

Prosecutor, defender and human services

• Richland County District Attorney, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581, (608) 647-3493
• State Public Defender (Lancaster office), (608) 401-2030; Richland County applicants can start the paperwork at the jail
• Richland County Health and Human Services, 221 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581, (608) 647-8821

Law enforcement

• Richland County Sheriff's Office, 181 West Seminary Street, Richland Center, WI 53581, (608) 647-8906; dispatch (608) 647-2106
• Richland Center Police Department (City of Richland Center)
• Village officers in some communities, such as Lone Rock and Viola; deputies cover the remaining towns and villages

Whichever agency makes a state-law arrest, the adult is taken to the Richland County Jail, where staff can explain how bail is posted.

Richland County's misdemeanor calendar is driven by traffic stops on U.S. Highway 14 and State Highways 80 and 60, tavern and family disputes, thefts from farms and small businesses, and drug paraphernalia and possession cases.

First hours after an arrest

Officers often release people charged with lesser crimes on a citation, and the jail can let someone out on a signature bond once booking is done. Domestic abuse arrests come with a 72-hour rule: no contact with the alleged victim and no return to that residence for three days after release, unless the victim signs a waiver. A person still in the Richland County Jail is brought before the judge or a court commissioner, usually within 48 hours, and the court reads the complaint and picks between a signature bond and a cash amount with conditions. Wisconsin has no bail bond industry, so cash is posted by the defendant or a relative.

Richland County misdemeanor ranges

• Class A: a Richland Center judge may order as many as 9 months in jail plus a fine of up to $10,000. Battery, trespassing into a dwelling, and theft where the property is worth $2,500 or less carry this grade.
• Class B: a 90-day jail cap and a $1,000 fine cap; disorderly conduct is the standard Class B charge, and the domestic abuse modifier is added when the people involved share a household or relationship.
• Class C: at most 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
• OWI, second offense within ten years of the first: a criminal charge; Richland County judges must impose from 5 days to 6 months of jail and add a fine, revocation, an assessment and an interlock. A first offense stays civil: $150 to $300 and costs, six to nine months of revocation, and an assessment, with an interlock required only when the driver refused testing or tested at 0.15 or more.

Lawyers and endings

A defendant can begin a public defender application at the jail or by calling the Lancaster office at (608) 401-2030; the agency applies a strict income test, and someone who is over its limit but still unable to afford counsel can ask the Richland County judge to appoint a lawyer paid by the county. Whether the lawyer is private or assigned by the State Public Defender, most Richland County misdemeanors resolve by plea, a deferred prosecution agreement or a dismissal; sentences include fines, probation and jail, generally with Huber work release. Six jurors hear misdemeanor trials. Cases usually take two to six months.

Felonies filed in Richland Center often concern methamphetamine sales, burglaries of farm buildings and vacant houses, theft of livestock, grain, tools or vehicles, and fourth or later OWI offenses.

A Richland County felony, step by step

1. Criminal complaint. The District Attorney reviews police reports and files the complaint with the clerk.
2. First appearance. The Seminary Street court sets bail and conditions; people unable to pay remain in the Richland County Jail.
3. Preliminary hearing. Defendants kept in custody because they cannot meet the cash amount are entitled to this probable cause hearing within 10 days; others get it within 20 days. Many waive it.
4. Information and arraignment. The prosecutor's information replaces the complaint as the charging document, and the defendant pleads to it.
5. Plea or trial. Most Richland County felony cases end in a plea bargain. Twelve jurors decide a felony trial, and they must reach the same verdict. A speedy trial demand generally brings trial within 90 days.
6. Sentencing. In serious cases the judge waits for a Department of Corrections presentence report.

Maximum sentences

• Burglary (Class F): 12 years 6 months.
• Felony theft: Class I if the value is above $2,500 but at most $5,000 (3 years 6 months); Class H between $5,000 and $10,000 (6 years); Class G or above beyond $10,000.
• Possession with intent to deliver: its class depends on which drug and how much, up to Class C, 40 years, at the top.
• In Richland County, substantial battery (Class I) carries up to 3 years 6 months, while aggravated battery (Class H or E) carries up to 6 or 15 years.

A Richland County prison sentence names two numbers, years of confinement and years of extended supervision afterward, and offenses after 1999 carry no parole. Some inmates can earn earlier release through Challenge Incarceration or the Substance Abuse Program. Sentences of a year or less stay in the county jail. Lawyers from the State Public Defender's Lancaster office, or private lawyers it appoints, represent defendants who qualify. Count on six months to a year for most felonies.

A homicide or armed robbery is a rare event in Richland County, and the Sheriff's Office generally works such cases with the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation. Cash bail is usually set high, and a 2023 change to the state constitution lets the judge factor in the risk that a person charged with a violent crime could seriously harm someone. Defendants who cannot meet the terms stay in the Richland County Jail while the case is pending.

Penalties

• First-degree intentional homicide, Class A: the only sentence is life, though the court decides whether the person can someday seek extended supervision and from what date.
• Second-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide, Class B: a maximum of 60 years.
• First-degree sexual assault, Class B: a maximum of 60 years; some child-victim versions require minimum terms.
• Armed robbery, Class C: a maximum of 40 years. Robbery, Class E: a maximum of 15 years.

Wisconsin ended capital punishment in 1853.

The road to a verdict

A year or two is common. In a county where many potential jurors may know the people involved, the court may have to consider bringing in jurors from elsewhere. Crime victims are protected by Marsy's Law, approved in 2020, and the District Attorney's office at (608) 647-3493 keeps them informed. If a defendant meets the income test, the State Public Defender's Lancaster office arranges the defense.

Richland County's juvenile court is the circuit court in Richland Center, hearing delinquency cases against children from 10 through 16. Because Wisconsin's adult system starts at 17, a 17-year-old who is arrested is charged in adult court and held, if necessary, at the Richland County Jail.

Who screens the case

Juvenile intake belongs to Richland County Health and Human Services in the Community Services Building, 221 West Seminary Street ((608) 647-8821). After reading the police referral, a Richland County intake worker may close it, propose a deferred prosecution agreement, or send it on; filing a delinquency petition is the District Attorney's call.

Secure detention

The county does not run a juvenile detention center. A child who has to be held securely is taken to a center elsewhere that accepts Richland County youth, typically the La Crosse County Juvenile Detention Center or the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center. In most cases a judge or juvenile court commissioner has to hold a custody hearing no later than 24 hours after the decision to hold the youth, counting neither weekend days nor legal holidays. Children are appointed lawyers through the State Public Defender without the adult financial screening.

How juvenile cases end

• A dismissal, an informal deferred prosecution agreement, or a court-approved consent decree.
• An adjudication followed by supervision in the community with conditions.
• Placement out of the home, which can include Type 2 residential care.
• For a small number of youths, the Serious Juvenile Offender program or Type 1 secure care, which means Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School.

Transfer to adult court

The DA may ask the court to waive a youth into adult court, generally when the child is 14 or older and, for some grave offenses, younger. Adult court is where a case starts outright when a child aged 10 or above is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, with an attempted or completed first-degree intentional homicide, or with felony murder, and certain youths who already have a delinquency record also begin in adult court when they face specified new charges. Records of juvenile cases are generally confidential.

Richland County belongs to the Western District of Wisconsin. Federal charges from Richland Center or the surrounding townships are filed and heard in Madison, roughly 60 miles to the east. The State Public Defender plays no part in federal court.

• U.S. District Court (Western District) clerk's office: Room 320, 120 N. Henry St., Madison 53703, (608) 264-5156
• United States Attorney for the district, 222 W. Washington Ave., Suite 700, Madison 53703, (608) 264-5158
• Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Madison branch, 22 E. Mifflin St., Suite 1000, (608) 260-9900; if it has a conflict, the judge appoints a Criminal Justice Act panel attorney

Which cases become federal

Federal charges arising in Richland County usually involve methamphetamine or opioid supply chains, firearms in the hands of people legally barred from them, bank robbery, child exploitation offenses and fraud, including against farm and benefit programs. Under Public Law 280, Wisconsin's state courts have criminal jurisdiction on most tribal land in the state; the Menominee Reservation is the principal exception.

Inside the federal system

Arrested defendants appear first before a U.S. magistrate judge in Madison, who can appoint counsel. Federal court does not use cash bail; the Bail Reform Act asks whether release on Pretrial Services-supervised conditions is enough or detention is needed, and a detention hearing, if the government wants one, usually happens within three court days. A grand jury indictment generally must come within 30 days of a complaint, and the Speedy Trial Act sets a 70-day goal for trial, regularly extended. Most Richland County federal defendants plead guilty; the rest face a 12-member jury whose verdict has to be unanimous.

A Madison judge sentencing a Richland County defendant reads the probation office's presentence report, calculates the advisory Guidelines range, and must respect any mandatory minimum. Parole was abolished federally, so Bureau of Prisons inmates serve about 85 percent of their terms before supervised release begins. Appeals go up to the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. Federal juvenile prosecutions from Richland County are rare.

Locating a federal inmate

The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where a sentenced federal prisoner from Richland County is held; search it with the person's name or federal register number. Federal detainees awaiting trial are sometimes boarded in county jails that contract with the U.S. Marshals, and those jails' rosters may list them as well.