Madison, WI – The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Bench and Bar Committee has announced that Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge William J. Domina is the 2015 Judge of the Year. Domina’s award will be presented at the State Bar’s Annual Meeting & Conference on June 25 in Lake Geneva.
The Judge of the Year Award recognizes a sitting circuit court judge who has improved the judicial system during the past year by his or her leadership in advancing the quality of justice, judicial education, or innovative programs. High ideals, personal character, judicial competence, and community involvement are hallmarks of the award recipient.
“Judge Domina’s performance as a circuit court judge has included all of the elements of a superior jurist,” said those who nominated him for the award. “His competence, temperament, demeanor, and work ethic have been exemplary.”
Domina is being recognized for his work with Waukesha County’s Drug Treatment Court and the Juvenile Legal Clinic in Waukesha County. Domina helped to establish the Drug Treatment Court in 2011 and served as the presiding judge of the program for its first three years. By the end of 2014, the program serviced almost 100 participants.
Treatment courts – whether for alcohol or drug abuse – bring together a panel of law enforcement, human services workers, probation and parole officers, as well as prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge.
“It’s much more personal and much more involved. And that judicial engagement has been proven across the country to be effective in dealing with these treatment issues and reducing recidivism,” Domina said. “We have real time information as to the status and it really helps the judge do a better job.”
For more information contact Katie Stenz, public relations coordinator, State Bar of Wisconsin. She can be reached at org kstenz wisbar wisbar kstenz org, or by phone at (608) 250-6025.
In May 2014, Judge Domina established the Waukesha County Juvenile Legal Clinic, where volunteer attorneys help pro se litigants in child guardianship cases properly fill out the required paperwork, which as Domina said, ensures that “people are more prepared when they come into court.”
In his community, Domina spent a decade of time on his local school board, the State Bar Board of Governors and was appointed to the Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board by Gov. Tommy Thompson in 2000.
Domina was appointed circuit court judge by Gov. Jim Doyle in Waukesha County in 2010 and was elected to the position in 2011. He was appointed in 2003 by then-County Executive Scott Walker as Milwaukee County corporation counsel. He earned his law degree in 1985 from the U.W. Law School.
