Plenty of humor at Kerkman investiture

County Executive Jim Kreuser and Judge Chad Kerkman

County Executive Jim Kreuser and Judge Chad Kerkman

While certainly a momentous and dignified occasion, there were many humorous moments during Judge Chad Kerkman’s investiture as a Kenosha County Circuit Court judge Wednesday afternoon.

  • There were a lot of dignitaries to introduce around the courtroom. County Executive Jim Kreuser was rattling off the names of elected officials when he just casually mentioned state Rep. Samantha Kerkman, Judge’s Kerkman’s wife. When the crowd reacted with laughter Kreuser said “You kind of knew she’d be here.”
  • The dual elected official nature of the Kerkman household came up again during comments from Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser. As a judge, Prosser advised, Chad Kerkman would not be able to do things he used to, such as contribute to the campaign of a partisan elected official “… even if you are married to the candidate.”
  • Prosser also said Kerkman may find himself expected to do things he had not expected. For example, he pointed out Chief Circuit Judge Mary K. Wagner at the Kenosha County Fair once  bought a 4-H chicken raised by Chad Kerkman. “I suspect people will be watching very closely to see if you follow Judge Wagner’s precedent,” Prosser said.
  • Kerkman presented his wife with flowers during his comments. Before presenting his mother with flowers also, he told how his mother, Mary Kerkman, returning to school after raising a family, found herself in law school in Madison at the same time as Chad. The pair even were roomies for a semester Chad Kerkman said, admitting his mom didn’t like that story repeated, necessitating the flowers. “I should have gotten more than flowers for letting him tell that story,” Mary Kerkman said.
  • Randall municipal Judge Charles Gitzinger.

    Randall municipal Judge Charles Gitzinger.

    As mentioned earlier, there were a lot of dignitaries to introduce, so a few mistakes were to be expected. But the Randall town government representatives had to wonder what they did wrong. First, while municipal judges in the audience were being introduced, Charles Gitzinger, the Randall municipal judge, was introduced as being the Wheatland judge. Then Bob Stoll, Randall town chairman, was introduced as a being a Randall supervisor. Both men seemed to take the errors in their ids in stride. But Gitzinger did say “Randall” after his introduction, I assume just to set the record straight.

    Video of oath and other coverage here.

Randall town Chairman Robert Stoll.

Randall town Chairman Robert Stoll.

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4 Comments

  1. Tammie Campbell says:

    Congratulations your Honor! Sorry to have missed the event, but kudos to West of the I for making me feel as if I was in the room!

  2. Thanks for the kind words, Tammie. That’s our goal when we cover an event like this — trying to make it feel like you were there.

  3. Georgia Hinske & Steve Kramer says:

    Congratulations to our brother-in-law Chad, you are going to be great as a judge, you are a natural at being impartial. We were disappointed that we could not attend so THANK YOU Thank you to West of the I for having such great coverage of the event! Darren, you achieved your goal.

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