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Hammond Municipal
Court
Contact
Information
455 Davis Street – Lower Level
P.O. Box 299
Hammond, WI 54015
Phone: 715.796.2345 (ext.
17)
Fax: 715.796.5454
Hours: Monday – Friday
8:00
AM – 4:30PM
SEND
EMAIL
Hammond
Municipal Staff
Judge: Sandra
Nelson
Court Clerk: Jean
Peterson |
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| The
Village of Hammond Municipal Court deals exclusively
with non-criminal cases involving village ordinance
violations in the form of traffic citations, municipal
code violations and parking tickets that have occurred
within the village limits. Our first court
was held on September 30, 1997 with Judge Sandra
Nelson officiating. Judge Nelson has been our only
judge to serve this court which handles approximately
400-500 cases per year. |
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| CLICK
HERE for
Municipal Court Dates and Times: |
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| Initial
Court Appearance: |
Your
initial appearance date is written on the top
of your citation.
If your citation is marked “YES” for
mandatory appearance, you must appear at the specified
time on your citation. (Juvenile citations
are MANDATORY.)
If your citation is marked “NO” for
appearance, you DO NOT have to appear but you may.
If you wish to not appear, you can submit your
plea and your payment before the court date listed
on the citation. Failure to notify the Court
of your plea by the specified date will result
in a no contest/guilty by default judgment. |
PLEA
CHOICES |
| You
have the choice of three pleas: |
| GUILTY: This
plea means that you admit the charge(s)
and the Court will impose a forfeiture. |
| NOT
GUILTY: This
plea means that you wish to CONTEST or
DENY the charge(s). The Court will set
your case for a pretrial conference with
the Village Attorney on a date to be set
later. If the case is not resolved at that
time, a trial will be scheduled. |
NO
CONTEST: This
plea means that you do NOT wish to CONTEST
the charge(s). The Court will then find
you guilty. BY entering a plea of No Contest,
you neither admit nor deny the charge(s),
rather you are choosing not to dispute
the allegations. The effect is the same
as a guilty plea, except that you are not
admitting to any civil liability which
may arise from the incident.
Upon a plea of either GUILTY or NO CONTEST,
you will be given an opportunity to inform
the Court of any extenuating circumstances
regarding the charge(s). The Court will review
the record and impose a penalty (forfeiture)
in accordance with the law. You will be expected
to pay any forfeiture before you leave unless
you request additional time to pay. In addition,
if you are found guilty of a traffic violation,
demerit points may be assessed against your
driving record by the Wisconsin Department
of Transportation (DOT). |
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How
to enter a plea?
You
may enter a plea by either mailing your
plea or faxing your plea prior to the court
date or making a personal appearance in
court on your scheduled court date. (If
mandatory appearance is marked, you must
appear.) |
| Default
Judgment: Failure
to appear in Court, pay your forfeiture
or enter a no-contest or guilty plea prior
to your initial court date, will result
in a default judgment entered against you
with a plea of no contest, a finding of
guilty and a forfeiture imposed. |
| What
will happen after I submit a plea of NOT
GUILTY? The
Court will notify you by mail of your new
scheduled court date when you must appear
in court for either a pretrial or a trial. |
| What
can I do if I am not satisfied with the
judgment? You
have the right to appeal the judgment.
An appeal is asking to have your case heard
again in a higher court. Both you and the
Village Attorney have the right to appeal
the decision of the judge. The appeal is
then heard by the St. Croix County Circuit
Court. (Additional information on appeal
procedure is available through the Clerk
of Court.) |
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Payment
Options: |
| 1.
Fine payments should be mailed to: Hammond
Municipal Court, PO Box 299, Hammond, WI
54015. (Please
include citation # with your payment.)
Do not mail cash. Make checks payable to
Clerk of Court. |
| 2.
Credit Card or Electronic Check payments
are handled through Official Payments. Visit www.officialpayments.com or
call 1-800-272-9829 option #3. (USE JURISDICTION
CODE: 6770) Be prepared to enter your citation
number during the transaction process. |
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| 3.
Pay in person at
address above during normal office hours. |
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Penalties
for Non-Payment of Forfeiture |
| Failure
to pay your fine could result in the following: |
| • suspension
of your driving privileges for up to two
years |
| • issuance
of a warrant |
| • initiating
a tax intercept of your tax refund |
| • referral
to a collection agency |
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| Court
Protocol: While
proceedings may at times be somewhat informal,
respect and proper decorum will be expected at
all times. While waiting for your case to be
called, you are to remain quiet and avoid behavior
which might be disruptive. |
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OTHER
LINKS: |
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