Heather Bravener
Clerk of Circuit Courts

517 Court Street
Room 405
Neillsville, WI 54456

Phone: 715-743-5181

Mission Statement: To facilitate for tbe creating, maintenance, disposition and preservation of the written record of all the prodeedings that come before the Circuit Court System of the County.

Description of Department Services

The Office of the Clerk of Circuit Court is the record keeping office of the activities that occur in the Circuit Court of the County. The directives applied to guide the office in the discharge of its responsibilities are set forth throughout the Wisconsin Statutes and various County Board Resolutions. The office directly interacts with the Circuit Court, Courts of Appeal, District Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff's Department, Private Attorneys and numerous litigants in the daily operation of its activities. All of the current record keeping activities are now computerized making access to information readily available.

The primary service provided is the creation, indexing, filing scheduling and maintaining of case files on matters before the Circuit Court. These files are routinely identified as Criminal, Civil, Family, Small Claims and Traffic matters. Once resolved by the Court, many case files become inactive and are maintained for record keeping purposes only. Many files however, require ongoing responsibilities, specifically the Family area. Additionally, many of the civil and small claims actions resulting in judgments for money damages require daily recordings effectuating liens against the titles of real estate. Efforts by litigants and attorneys to force collections of unpaid money damages through the use of garnishment actions are a part of the daily office routine.

The office provides forms and general procedural information for litigants utilizing the small claims court to resolve landlord tenant disputes, non-payment for goods and services rendered, repossession of collateral and unlawful detainer actions. Other simplified procedures in which the office provides forms and procedural information involve actions for Restraining Orders and Injunctions. Recently, the legislature has seen fit to simplify the procedure in which one may gain access to the courts to seek enforcement of visitation rights to minor children.

Other activities the office participates in includes the payment for witnesses subpoenaed by the State of Wisconsin through the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defenders Office. The office facilitates for the receiving and disbursing, currently in excess of three million dollars annually, court ordered fines, attributable court costs and court user fees. The office often acts as a trustee holding monies pending the completion of litigation. The office is responsible for the preparation and forwarding of matters on review to the Court's of Appeal and the State Public Defender's Office. The office is responsible for creating a variety of reports for various county and state agencies and acts as an Acceptance Agent for the procuring of United State Passports.

The office, by statutory directive, provides for the organizing, summoning and orientation of jurors who hear cases before the Circuit Court. Approximately six hundred county citizens are called upon annually to serve as jurors in Clark County. Names of prospective jurors are randomly selected from the State Department of Transportation's Drivers License and State Identification Card records.

Current staffing in the office is seven full-time positions, one part-time position with an overall operating budget of $324,000 dollars.