Judicial vacancies lasting 4 months under Walker

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker’s office has taken more than four months on average to replace retiring circuit court judges, leaving reserve judges to hear cases and putting other cases on hold until a permanent judge is named.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that courts have waited an average of 124 days from the time the governor’s office solicited applications for open seats until a successor was announced.

From 2004 to 2009, former Gov. Jim Doyle took an average of about 99 days to appoint each of eight judges in Dane County.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie says there are many steps in the application process that the governor’s office doesn’t control, including background checks, but he didn’t say why the process was quicker under Doyle.