Everett Mitchell steps into new role as presiding judge of juvenile division for Dane County Circuit Court

Everett Mitchell steps into new role as presiding judge of juvenile division for Dane County Circuit Court | Madison 365

— David Dahmer, Madison 365

For Everett Mitchell, a Dane County Circuit Court Judge since 2016, one of the traits that he says makes a good judge is curiosity.

“It’s never rubberstamping what people do, but rather be curious upon every hearing that you have. As long as you remain curious, you continue to ask the right questions, the best questions, the thoughtful questions and you push,” he says, “and the community can bring the best out of what we can do.

“When I started, for example, I was pushing to take handcuffs off of kids. Now, it’s amazing that this is the culture now. The culture is that kids can come to court with no handcuffs. That shift is possible,” Mitchell adds. “As long as we maintain our sense of courage and strength, the resolve ultimately will be that we can see these kinds of changes long-term.”