2 circuit court judges will be stepping down
Sankovitz, Kuhnmuench leaving at end of year
Two veteran jurists have announced their departures from the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench, leaving Gov. Scott Walker with the opportunity to make the 69th and 70th judicial appointments of his administration.
Richard Sankovitz recently announced his resignation to join a private mediation and arbitration services company called Resolute Systems based in Milwaukee with offices in Chicago and New York.
Sankovitz plans to leave at year’s end, with his last day in court Dec. 19.
He was among eight lawyers forwarded for possible nomination to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2015, and again as a possible nomination for a U.S. district judge opening in Milwaukee.
Kuhnmuench retiring at end of year
Mary Kuhnmuench, the presiding judge in the misdemeanor division, announced her retirement in September after 20 years on the job.
Kuhnmuench also plans to leave at the end of the year.
Sankovitz was appointed judge in 1996 and most recently re-elected in 2015, so his current term wouldn’t expire
until 2021.
10 apply to Walker
Ten people have applied to Walker to replace Kuhnmuench. Amy Hasenberg, a Walker spokeswoman, said Walker hopes to make a choice within eight to 12 weeks.
She said Walker’s office plans to seek applications again later this week for the appointment to fill Sankovitz’s seat in Branch 29, currently assigned to family court.
Given the large pool of applicants, Walker could appoint both new judges from the first set of finalists.
In contrast, only one person applied for the last opening on Milwaukee County’s Circuit Court bench, the former seat of Rebecca Dallet, who was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the spring.
Walker appointed Andrew A. Jones, formerly a partner at Husch Blackwell. He faces Assistant Public Defender Danielle Shelton in a spring election.
Whoever gets appointed to Kuhnmuench’s seat won’t have to run for reelection until 2019.
No movement on Giampietro nomination
Meanwhile, there’s still been no vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace the late Rudolph Randa as U.S. district judge in Milwaukee.
Gordon Giampietro was named in December but is still awaiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate, which confirmed 15 nominees to district and circuit courts last week just days after confirming controversial pick Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.