Wisconsin OWI Court Process

Question: What is the court process for an OWI case in Wisconsin?

Answer: So, generally speaking, the court process is that you’re going to get a ticket from the officer. That ticket is going to tell you where the court is and what day you have your first appearance. If you hire an attorney, an attorney can often take care of that first court appearance for you. But there are some court appearances that are mandatory and if you don’t have an attorney, obviously you would need to go to court on your own. But that ticket is going to give you the information on where your court is and what the first date is. And then after that, generally speaking, most courts in Wisconsin, you’re going to have a pre-trial conference, which is an opportunity to talk to a prosecutor. And then you’re going to have to decide how to proceed with the case from there: whether you want a motion hearing, a trial, a jury trial, whether you’re going to try and negotiate and settle the case.