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Council preview: ordinance to require municipal judge be licensed attorney after code lapse

6441313 · October 24, 2025

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Summary

City staff will propose an amendment to municipal code section to restore a requirement that municipal judges be licensed practicing attorneys; the provision fell out of the code during prior expansions of the municipal court contract with Stratford and Spencer.

City staff told a council preview they will propose a municipal code amendment to restore language requiring municipal judges to be licensed practicing attorneys.

Steve Barker said the provision had been inadvertently removed from the municipal code when the city extended municipal court services to Stratford and Spencer. "Up until 02/2015, if you wanted to run for judge in the city in Marshfield municipal court, you had to be a licensed practicing attorney," Barker said. That requirement "fell out" of the code, he said, and staff will ask the council to reinsert the attorney-licensing requirement.

Barker said Judge Cruz has served the municipal court for many years and that Cruz's term ends in April 2027. The amendment will require approvals by the Marshfield council and the village boards of Stratford and Spencer, which contract for municipal court services, Barker said. He expected the ordinance to move through a second reading on Nov. 11.

The preview did not record a formal vote; the proposal was presented as a correction to the municipal code to align qualification requirements for elected municipal judges with state licensing expectations.