Court Description
The circuit court of Trempealeau County is a court of general jurisdiction. There is one Circuit Court Judge elected every six years. All criminal and civil matters arising in the county are heard in this court. The cases include felony, misdemeanor, traffic, family, personal injury, collection, probate, and juvenile. In 1996, the Clerk of Courts had over 6,000 filings of all types.
Trempealeau County is a rural county with a population of 25,930 by the 1996 estimate. It covers 734 square miles of beautiful hills and river valleys. Further information on the county is available at our link to the Trempealeau County Tourism Web Site.
Several new programs involving small claims, juvenile, and family have been established by the court within the last two years. A small claims mediation program uses volunteer mediators to solve disputes at the initial appearance. A victim/offender mediation program for juveniles operates under the court. A teen court works with the cooperation of the local school districts in the county. An underage drinking diversion program has started with the assistance of Franciscan-Skemp Health Care. A custody assessment team procedure has been arranged for guidance in custody disputes.
Clerk Of Court Description
Wisconsin Statutes 59.40 defines the Duties of Clerk of Court. The following is a brief outline of those duties. The Clerk of Court is required to:
... file and keep all papers properly deposited in every action or proceeding.
... attend all court hearings to keep a court record, indicate the names of parties, attorneys, and a brief statement of the nature of the action or proceedings, which is a history of each action or proceeding.
... keep a judgement and lien docket of all money judgements of the court and those filed by contractors, transcript from other Wisconsin Courts, warrants for unemployment compensation and delinquent Wisconsin income taxes.
... keep a record of all payments and arrearage in payments ordered by the Court.
... keep a record of all fines ordered by the Court.
... keep a record of all officials of the Court.
... maintain a pool of jurors.
... pay monthly to the County Treasurer the State's and the County's percentage of fees required to be paid on each civil and criminal action.
... pay monthly to the County Treasurer the amounts collected for jail assessment.
... provide vital records with information from Court records to establish proper certificates.
... invest funds.
... contract with collection agency for collection of fines.
... maintain the Law Library.
... not act as an attorney.
In order to perform the above duties, the clerk of court's office has a staff of five individuals to assist the Clerk in carrying out the assigned duties.