An intro to the Milwaukee Municipal Court

Whether it's a parking or speeding ticket, or you got a little carried away at Summerfest, you may find yourself in Milwaukee Municipal Court.

The mission of the Milwaukee Municipal Court is to impartially adjudicate ordinance violation cases such that legal rights of individuals are safeguarded and public interest is protected. The Milwaukee Municipal Court is located at 951 N. James Lovell St. in Milwaukee.

At the court, we handle approximately 130,000 cases per year. These cases include: ordinance violations, traffic violations, building, zoning, and health code violations, as well as parking citations. Basically, any citation issued by a City of Milwaukee police officer, building and health inspector, or parking enforcement officer could make its way through our court.

All of our hearings are open to the public, with the exception of juvenile cases, and we encourage the public to sit in and observe the proceedings.

There are three branches of the Milwaukee Municipal Court. Each of the three judges is elected to preside over a specific branch. All branches hear the same types of cases, but have different schedules. The Municipal Court's three branches hear cases from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, and from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Fridays. The Municipal Court also offers Night Court sessions each month starting at 5 p.m.

The judges that preside over the three branches of Municipal Court are Judge Valarie Hill (Branch 1), Judge Derek Mosley (Branch 2) and Judge Phillip Chavez (Branch 3).

The Milwaukee Municipal Court also has an in-custody court in Room 134 of the Milwaukee County Criminal Justice Facility located at 949 N. 9th St. This court handles cases of defendants in custody as well as acting as an overflow branch for pre-trial hearings. The in-custody court is presided over by City of Milwaukee Municipal Court Commissioners. The commissioners are Dominique Beck, Kristela Cevera, Lynn Hackbarth and Herman John.