Municipal Court

Mission, Goals, and Objectives

To provide a neutral forum for resolving alleged City ordinance violations. To provide friendly and efficient service to all court users, keeping in mind legal and ethical requirements.

Directory

Honorable Daniel P. Koval, Judge

608-264-9282

• Christie Zamber, Court Administrator
• Kelly McConnell, Judicial Support Clerk 2
• Lori Dahlhauser, Judicial Support Clerk 2
• Erin Nunez, Judicial Support Clerk 2

The Municipal Court provides a neutral forum for hearing City Ordinance cases, where the penalty includes a forfeiture. These are not criminal charges and defendants are not entitled to a free lawyer. Common cases include traffic, parking, first offense drunk driving, disorderly conduct, trespass, truancy, underage alcohol, building code and animal control violations. The judge may order a drivers license suspension in addition to the forfeiture, in some cases. Examples include underage alcohol violations, habitual truancy and any traffic violation where the judge finds it appropriate for public safety reasons to do so. Drivers license revocations are required in drunk driving cases. The Court hears both adult and juvenile cases. Juvenile cases are confidential, except for traffic violations. Juveniles can be charged with the same violations as adults, but can also be charged with truancy, curfew, tobacco and alcohol violations.

At pre-trials defendants negotiate with the prosecutor for the City. Any agreements are submitted in writing and subject to the judge's approval. If no agreement is reached, a trial is scheduled. All trials are without a jury, except when a proper request is made on drunk driving cases. The rules of evidence apply to all trials. The City must prove guilt by clear, satisfactory and convincing evidence. The judges rulings on trials and motions can be appealed to circuit court, upon proper filing of papers and fees.

The judge can issue arrest warrants for nonpayment of forfeitures or failure to appear in court. The judge can also issue inspection warrants for Building and Health code violations. Some unpaid forfeitures are sent to a collection agency, State Debt Collection and/or the judge orders a 1-year license suspension.