Briefs: Judge seeks election to county executive+.

• Date: 06 March 2002

Byline: David Ziemer

Judge Wagner to go forward with action on eligibility for county executive spot

Although the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted not to accept original action in #02-0375, Jeffrey A. Wagner v. Milwaukee County Election Commission, Judge Wagner will continue to pursue the action.

On Feb. 7, 2002, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner filed a Petition for Leave to Commence an Original Action Seeking Declaratory Judgment regarding the interpretation of Art. VII, § 10(1) of the Wisconsin Constitution. Wagner is considering running for county executive in the wake of F. Thomas Ament's resignation in the wake of a pension scandal.

Specifically, the petitioner requested "expeditious resolution" of the following question:

Whether Article VII, § 10(1) of the Wisconsin Constitution deprives petitioner, a circuit judge of Milwaukee County, of the liberty to run for and hold a nonjudicial office of public trust within six years of being elected, even if petitioner resigns as a circuit judge.

On Feb. 26, 2002, the Milwaukee County Election Commission filed its response, indicating that it neither supports nor opposes the petition, and indicating further that it has "no institutional interest in the question of whether [the petitioner] should be allowed to run for and hold the office of county executive."

In light of the lack of opposition, the court concluded that it should not take the case. In its Feb. 28 order, the court reasoned, "A primary difficulty here is that, in light of the response of the Milwaukee County Elections Board, there is no respondent who is taking a position adverse to the petitioner. The Office of the Attorney General might wish to act as the respondent in this matter. Any new respondent would need time to become familiar with the issues...