Jon P. Wilcox

Jon P. Wilcox (born September 5, 1936) is an American lawyer and retired judge. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for 15 years, appointed by Governor Tommy G. Thompson in 1992 and leaving office in 2007. Prior to his time on the Supreme Court, he served for 13 years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge, including seven years as Chief Judge of the 6th Judicial Administrative District of Wisconsin Circuit Courts. Earlier, he represented Green Lake and Waushara counties in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican.

In the Fall of 2023, Wilcox was one of three former Wisconsin Supreme Court justices who advised Assembly speaker Robin Vos on the question of whether to impeach new justice Janet Protasiewicz. Wilcox released his opinion to the press on October 11, 2023, saying that he "did not see that there were any impeachable offenses."

Early life and education

Wilcox was born at hospital in Berlin, Wisconsin, and grew up in nearby Wild Rose. He was valedictorian of his graduating class at Wild Rose High School in 1954, then attended Ripon College. After obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1958, he joined the United States Army and was commissioned as an officer in a military police company. In 1961, Wilcox left the Army and entered law school at the University of Wisconsin, ultimately obtaining his law degree in 1965.

Wilcox began in private law practice at the La Crosse, Wisconsin, firm of Steele, Smyth, Klos & Flynn. Wilcox would later refer to Jerry Klos as his mentor. After a few years in La Crosse, Wilcox and his wife purchased farmland near Wautoma and relocated there. In 1968, he formed his own law partnership, Wilcox, Rudolph, Kubasta & Rathjen. He was also an elected member of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress from 1975 to 1980.

Wisconsin Circuit Court

Wilcox ultimately returned to public office in 1979 at the behest of Governor Martin J. Schreiber. Schreiber had appointed James Poole to the Waushara Circuit Court judgeship in 1978 after the death of Judge Boyd A. Clark, but Poole died unexpectedly on the day he filed to run for a full term in 1979. An aide to Schreiber asked Wilcox to consider running for the seat. Wilcox eventually decided to pursue election as a write-in candidate and was victorious in the April 1979 election.

Chief Judge

In 1985, the Wisconsin Supreme Court appointed Wilcox Chief Judge of the 6th Administrative District of Wisconsin Circuit Courts, comprising, at the time, the counties of Adams, Clark, Columbia, Dodge, Green Lake, Juneau, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara, and Wood. As chief judge, he was empowered to assign judges, oversee the caseflow, and supervise the personnel and budget of the courts within his administrative district.

Wilcox served three two-year terms as chief judge, which at the time was the statutory maximum for consecutive terms. He was elected chairman of the Wisconsin Chief Judges Committee in 1990.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

In May, 1992, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice William G. Callow announced that he would resign, effective September 1. Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson selected Wilcox to fill the vacancy, and he was sworn in on October 7, 1992. The appointment would allow Wilcox to fill out the remainder of Callow's ten-year term, expiring in 1997.

Wilcox decided to stand for election to a full ten-year term in 1997, and faced ACLU attorney Walter Kelly. Wilcox won the election by a large margin, but his victory spawned allegations of campaign finance violations which would develop into a John Doe investigation.

1997 election campaign controversy

Wilcox was involved in a controversy in 2001 when his 1997 re-election campaign was accused of an illegally coordinated get-out-the-vote effort with the group Wisconsin Coalition for Voter Participation. The group, which supported school choice, apparently put more than $200,000 into last-minute mailings and phone calls supporting Wilcox's candidacy. The Wisconsin State Elections Board alleged that Wilcox's campaign violated state election law, which bans any cooperation between independent groups and a candidate or a candidate's campaign organization.

The formal complaint alleged 10 violations of state election law, including accepting prohibited corporate contributions, filing false campaign reports, and failing to file reports of late contributions. Kelly, his opponent in the election, called on Wilcox to consider resignation.

The Board eventually reached a settlement with Wilcox's campaign, whereby a total of $60,000 in fines would be paid by members of the Wilcox campaign. At the time, this was the largest fine ever levied by the Wisconsin Elections Board. His term expired on July 31, 2007, and he was succeeded by Washington County Circuit Court Judge Annette K. Ziegler, who had defeated Madison attorney Linda Clifford in the April 2007 statewide election.

Later years

After leaving the Supreme Court, Wilcox would continue to serve as a reserve judge, and would occasionally hear cases. He remained active in politics, endorsing a 2015 referendum to change the rules governing selection of the Wisconsin Supreme Court's Chief Justice, and was outspoken about the controversy roiling the Court subsequent to the amendment's passage. He endorsed Michael in the 2018 Supreme Court election, and Brian Hagedorn in 2019.

In the Fall of 2023, with a new liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and pending litigation that threatened to overturn the Republican legislative maps, Wisconsin Assembly speaker Robin Vos began threatening to impeach the newest justice, Janet Protasiewicz. After initial pushback, he announced a plan to receive advice from three former justices on the question of impeachment. Wilcox was one of the three retired justices who advised Vos, the other two being former chief justice Patience Roggensack and former justice David Prosser Jr. Prosser's opinion was the first to become widely known, when an October 6 letter was revealed by the press on October 10, demonstrating Prosser making an extensive argument against any impeachment. Wilcox had previously denied that he had been asked to advise Vos, but the day after Prosser's letter was revealed, Wilcox also revealed his involvement in the panel. He also described his advice to Vos, telling the Wisconsin State Journal, "I told Vos that I did not favor impeachment. ... Impeachment is thrown around quite a bit today, but I did not see that there were any impeachable offenses at that time."

Family and personal life

Wilcox married Jane Ann Heller, and together they had two children, Jeffrey Jon Wilcox and Jennifer Weekly. Jeffrey died in 2017 at age 53. Their daughter Jennifer has two children from her first marriage to Shawn Koerner.

Wilcox and his wife own a 2500-acre tree farm near Wautoma, Wisconsin. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and hiking.

Wisconsin Circuit Court (1979, 1985, 1991)

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1997)