Third Branch eNews

Judge Mark D. Gundrum has been appointed presiding judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II, effective August 1, 2026.

Judge Gundrum succeeds Judge Lisa S. Neubauer, who has served as the district’s presiding judge since August 2025. He previously held the position and will serve a one-year term ending July 31, 2027. Chief Judge M. Joseph Donald appointed Judge Gundrum in a July 16 order.

Presiding judges oversee administrative operations within their districts while continuing to carry a full caseload. Their responsibilities include assigning cases, coordinating judicial panels, managing schedules, and addressing organizational, administrative, and staffing issues.

Judge Gundrum has served on the Court of Appeals since 2011, following a year as a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge. Before joining the bench, he worked in private practice and served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph T. Randa. Judge Gundrum represented the 84th Assembly District in the Wisconsin State Legislature from 1999 to 2010 and chaired the Assembly Judiciary Committee from 2001 to 2008. He has served as a Judge Advocate General officer in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2000 and was deployed to Iraq, where he served as a Rule of Law Advisor in 2008. Judge Gundrum earned both his bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

District II is headquartered in Waukesha and hears appeals from circuit courts in Calumet, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago counties.

The presiding judges in the Court of Appeals’ other three districts will continue in their current roles:

• Judge Pedro A. Colón, District I
• Judge Lisa K. Stark, District III
• Judge Rachel A. Graham, District IV