New liberal majority on state Supreme Court fires director of state court system

MADISON – The new liberal majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court took its first step Wednesday by firing the director of the state courts system.

Randy Koschnick, who has held the position since 2017 when he was appointed by the outgoing conservative majority, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he received a phone call Monday afternoon from liberal Justice Jill Karofsky informing him there were enough votes to "fire you tomorrow."

On Wednesday, he received the letter terminating his employment.

"We appreciate the contributions you have made to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and wish you the best inyour future endeavors," wrote Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, another liberal on the high court.

Koschnick responded to his dismissal by touting his accomplishments during his time overseeing the state's court system, noting in particular that his office had helped resolve the court reporter shortage in the state.

Some county judges, especially in Milwaukee County, have objected to his handling of this issue.

"Our statewide pool of digital court reporters is now fully staffed with no vacancies," Koschnick said via email. "This is due to the hard work of me and my staff in recruiting, hiring and training new digital court reporters. There is a nationwide shortage, and Wisconsin is a leader in effectively addressing this shortage under my leadership."

Koschnick received the call from Karofsky a day before a swearing-in ceremony for the court's newest justice, Janet Protasiewicz, took place in the State Capitol while he was attending a conference for court administrators.

Karofsky did not respond to email messages and voicemails from the Journal Sentinel. Conservative radio host Dan O'Donnell first reported the phone call from Karofsky.

Chief Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler, a conservative, put out a two-page statement Tuesday objecting to the decision to oust Koschnick, saying the move "was made without regard for the Constitution, case law, or Supreme Court rules."

Ziegler said all seven justices should have been given the chance to provide input on the issue. Also, as chief justice, she said she is tasked with administrative authority for the court, something that she said is being "undermined."

"To say that I am disappointed in my colleagues is an understatement," Ziegler wrote. "My colleagues’ unprecedented, dangerous conduct is the raw exercise of overreaching power. It is shameful. I fear this is only the beginning."

The state courts director is the chief non-judicial officer of Wisconsin's court system, overseeing the operation of courts across the state including developing the budget for the court system, advising the state Supreme Court on how to improve the court system, and overseeing technology and continuing education.

Koschnick was paid $174,366 annually, the same as state Appeals Court judges.

Protasiewicz, a former Milwaukee County circuit judge, joins the court Tuesday after defeating former conservative Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in April. Her seat creates a liberal majority on the state's highest court — giving the justices the power to take a number of actions to reshape the status quo, including naming a new courts director.

Previous voting blocs have utilized their power to make dramatic changes as well. In 2015, the conservative majority ousted longtime Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson after voters approved changing how the head of the court is selected.

Four justices on the seven-member court voted to put Patience Roggensack in charge just hours after state election officials certified the April 7, 2015, referendum results, allowing court members to choose the chief justice. For the previous 126 years, the state constitution had the most senior member of the court serve as chief justice.

Roggensack left the court Tuesday as Protasiewicz took her seat.

Koschnick was appointed state courts director after serving as a Jefferson County judge for 18 years and a Jefferson County public defender for 14 years. In 2009, he lost his challenge to Abrahamson.

He said Monday Karofsky did not say why he was losing his job, nor did she reveal which four justices agreed to replace Koschnick. But Koschnick said he had assurances of support from the three conservative justices, leaving Protasiewicz as the key vote.

"How can you fire somebody you never met?" he said.

Koschnick said he was exploring what options he might have.

"It's a wrecking ball," Koschnick said in a phone interview while at a New York Yankees home game. "I'm not sure what my options are. I'm still exploring my options. I'd like to continue to serve."

Koschnick's ouster comes after concerns among some judges over Koschnick's response to the national shortage of court reporters, including by installing software to record court proceedings that county officials can't control. Court reporters include stenographers typing in the courtroom and reporters who monitor a digital audio recorder.

Court reporters are required by law to capture what happens in courtrooms when judges, attorneys, defendants and others are on the record. Without them, those hearings cannot proceed. Last year, several Milwaukee County courtrooms briefly shut down because there were not enough court reporters.

A group of Milwaukee County judges in 2022 alerted county and state judicial officials about times the remote reporters began recording what was being said in the courtroom before proceedings were officially underway and without notifying anyone.

"This type of surreptitious listening and monitoring is unsettling and unacceptable. This is a significant issue which needs to be immediately addressed for a multitude of reasons," the Milwaukee Trial Judges Association wrote in a 2022 letter to Milwaukee County Chief Judge Mary Triggiano.

"While (the state courts director's office) attempts to address solutions to the growing shortage of stenographers and (remote) reporters, the solution to that problem should not be used as a Trojan Horse to otherwise intrude on the work of the judicial branch of government. It would be unthinkable to install listening devices on the floor of the Assembly or Senate floor in the name of any such solution."

Kochnick told the association in 2021 his effort to expand the use of remote court reporting was specifically aimed at increasing capacity while addressing the shortage of stenographers.

"Over the past several years, stenography schools have closed and those that remain open are not graduating enough students to cover the number of court system retirements, even if every graduating student came to work for the Wisconsin Court System," he wrote in a letter to the trial judges association. "In March, 2021 I authorized a pilot project to determine if taking the record remotely would allow the Court System to cover more courtroom vacancies and emergencies. This pilot has been very successful."

The new liberal majority named Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Audrey Skwierawski as Koschnick's replacement on an interim basis beginning Thursday, according to a news release. Skwierawski is taking a leave of absence from her Milwaukee County judicial post.

Skwierawski was appointed to her seat in 2018 by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. She previously worked as an assistant attorney general for former Republican Attorneys General Brad Schimel and J.B. Van Hollen and was a prosecutor in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office before that.

Ziegler is expected to retain her post as head of the court.

Molly Beck and Daniel Bice can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com and dbice@jrn.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New majority on Supreme Court fires director of state court system