Municipal Court

MUNICIPAL COURT

Hammond Municipal Court

Contact Information
455 Davis Street – Lower Level
P.O. Box 299
Hammond, WI 54015
Phone: 715-796-2562 (ext. 129)
Fax: 715-796-5454
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 12:30 AM – 4:30PM
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Hammond Municipal Staff

Judge: Wally Graf

Court Clerk: Jean Peterson

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. The Municipal Court handles approximately 300 cases per year.

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 schedule your case for a pretrial conference with the Village Attorney. 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).

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 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.)

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.official payments

or call 1-800-272-9829 option #3. (USE JURISDICTION CODE: 6770) Be prepared to enter your citation number during the transaction process. *MAXIMUM PAYMENT/TRANSACTION: $200.00*

3. Pay in person at address above during normal office hours.

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

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.