Miscellaneous

Fine Locally: Wisconsin Town and Gown Court

By Anne Skove, Esq.

We love useful, creative solutions, so a new (to us) idea from Whitewater, Wisconsin, caught our eye.

Here's the problem: UW-Whitewater students are inconvenienced by having to go to another town to contest traffic tickets or pay fines in state court. They miss class and use too much gas.

The city of Whitewater and and the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater have proposed a joint municipal court solution. The court would be open after-hours and be located right in town. It would be convenient for students and University police alike. The University and city would keep fines and forfeitures that currently go to the county.

Seems like a win-win-win solution (except, perhaps, for the county).

The current municipal court will experience an increased workload estimated to be about 30%. If the work becomes too much to handle, a part-time assistant may be hired.

Approval from the state university system appears to be the only hurdle. If (when?) this occurs, the court will expand August 1.

Has anyone else ever heard of a town/gown court?

See Joint Court Could Be Just the Ticket, Kayla Bunge, Janesville GazetteXtra (June 24, 2008), which contains a nice "where does all the money go?" breakdown.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on June 24, 2008 (boomark / email).