Wisconsin Question 3, Court of Appeals Amendment (April 1977)
| Wisconsin Question 3 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic State judiciary |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Wisconsin Question 3 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Wisconsin on April 5, 1977. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the constitution to create an appellate court. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the constitution to create an appellate court. |
Election results
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Wisconsin Question 3 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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455,350 | 66.51% | ||
| No | 229,316 | 33.49% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 3 was as follows:
| “ | Court of appeals. Shall section 5 of article VII of the constitution be repealed; shall section 21(1) of article I and section 2 of article VII of the constitution be amended; and shall sections 3 (3) and 5 of article VII and section 16 (5) of article XIV of the constitution be created, to provide for the creation of a court of appeals with appellate jurisdiction, including review of administrative proceedings, as provided by law, and with original jurisdiction limited to prerogative writ? | ” |
Constitutional changes
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
Article I
Rights of suitors. SECTION 21. (1) Writs of error shall never be prohibited, and shall be issued by such courts as the legislature designates by law.
Article VII
Court system. SECTION 2. The judicial power of this state, both as to matters of law and equity, shall be vested in a unified court system consisting of one supreme court, a court of appeals, a circuit courts, and court, such trail courts of probate. The legislature may also vest such general uniform jurisdiction as shall be deemed necessary in municipal courts, and may authorize the establishment of inferior courts in the several counties, cities, villages or towns, with limited civil and criminal jurisdiction. Provided, that the jurisdiction which may be vested in municipal courts shall not exceed in their respective municipalities that of circuit courts in their respective circuits as prescribed in this constitution; and that the legislature shall provide as well for the election of judges of the may create by law, and a municipal courts as of the judges of inferior courts, by the qualified electors of the respective jurisdictions. The term of office of the judges of the said municipal and inferior courts shall not be longer than that of the judges of the circuit courts court if authorized by the legislature under section 14.
Supreme court: jurisdiction. SECTION 3.
(3) The supreme court may review judgments and orders of the court of appeals, may remove cases from the court of appeals and may accept cases on certification by the court of appeals.
Supreme court: election, chief justice, court system administration.
SECTION 5. [Repealed] The state shall be divided into five judicial circuits, to be composed as follows: The first circuit shall comprise the counties of Racine, Walworth, Rock and Green; the second circuit, the counties o f Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson and Dane; the third circuit, the counties of Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Marquette, Sauk and Portage; the fourth circuit, the counties of Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calumet; and the fifth circuit shall comprise the counltes of Iowa, La Fayette, Grant, Crawford and St. Croix; and the county of Richland shall be attached to Iowa, the county of Chippewa to the county of Crawford, and the county of La Pointe to the county of St. Croix, for judicial purposes, until otherwise provided by the legislature.
Court of appeals. SECTION 5. The legislature shall by law combine the judicial circuits of the state into one or more districts for the court of appeals and shall designate in each district the locations where the appeals court shall sit for the convenience of litigants.
(2) For each district of the appeals court there shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the district one or more appeals judges as prescribed by law, who shall sit as prescribed by law. Appeals judges shall be elected for 6-year terms and shall reside in the district from which elected. No alteration of district or circuit boundaries shall have the effect of removing an appeals judge from office during the judge's term. In case of an increase in the number of appeals judges, the first judge or judges shall be elected for full terms unless the legislature prescribes a shorter initial term for staggering of terms.
(3) The appeals court shall have such appellate jurisdiction in the district, including jurisdiction to review administrative proceedings, as the legislature may provide by law, but shall have no original jurisdiction other than by prerogative writ. The appeals court may issue all writs necessary in aid of its jurisdiction and shall have supervisory authority over all actions and proceedings in the courts in the district.
ARTICLE XIV
Implementing revised structure of judicial branch. SECTION 16. (5) Prior to the effective date of this amendment the legislature shall by law establish one or more appeals court districts, provide for the election of appeals judges in such districts, and determine the jurisdiction of the court of appeals under section 21 of article I and section 5 of article VII as affected by this amendment. so that the court of appeals shall become operative on the effective date.[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Wisconsin Constitution
A simple majority vote is required during two legislative sessions for the Wisconsin State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 17 votes in the Wisconsin State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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