Judicial Retirements

Judge Daniel T. Dillon - Rock County Circuit Court

Judge Daniel T. Dillon

Judge Daniel T. Dillon

After 22 years on the bench, Rock County Circuit Court Judge Daniel T. Dillon will retire on April 5.

Dillon has served as the presiding judge for Rock County, and as a member of the Civil Jury Instruction Committee, Family Law Benchbook Committee, and Judicial Conference Nominating Committee. He has also served as a faculty member of the Wisconsin Judicial College.

“To every class of new judges, the one thing I try to emphasize is how unique and gratifying the role of a judge really is,” Dillon told the Beloit Daily News. “Each day, the most important duty of a judge is to be fair and just. I could not have asked for a more fulfilling profession.” Dillon was first appointed to the Branch 4 bench in 2000 by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson. He had previously worked as a trial lawyer for 28 years. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame.

“We are aware that as judges we are in positions of power and on a bench higher than anyone else in a courtroom, but we aren’t any different than anyone else,” Dillon told the newspaper. “I realized every person is important that comes before me. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind and helpful to people.”

After leaving the bench, Dillon plans to continue serving his community.

Judge W. Andrew Sharp - Richland County Circuit Court

Judge Andrew Sharp

Judge Andrew Sharp

Richland County Circuit Court Judge W. Andrew Sharp will retire on April 1, after 11 years on the bench.

Sharp was appointed by then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2011. He has served on the Uniform Bond Committee. He previously served as a district attorney for Richland County, as well as an assistant district attorney, assistant corporation counsel and a child support enforcement attorney. Reflecting on his career, Sharp said he will miss working with and meeting new types of people in the courthouse, and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those who appeared before him.

“For me, the biggest challenge was trying to deal effectively with people,” Sharp said. “People listened to me and remembered what I said simply because I was the judge. I felt a responsibility to try to find something to say to them that would resonate with them and give them the insight to see their situation more clearly.”

He advises new judges taking the bench to be even tempered: “An even-tempered person with no great legal abilities will probably make a better judge than a legal genius with a bad disposition.” In his retirement, he plans to work more with his local community and campus theaters, both directing and acting, and spend more time with his friends and family, including his musically-gifted step-daughters.

Judge Todd K. Martens - Washington County

Judge Todd K. Martens

Judge Todd K. Martens

After serving on the Washington County Branch 3 bench for almost 12 years, Judge Todd K. Martens retired on March 2.

Martens was first appointed by then-Gov. Jim Doyle in 2010, and was elected the following year. He was reelected in 2017.

In 2019, Martens reinstated the Washington County drug treatment court, and served as its presiding judge.

“There’s a tremendous need for alternatives here to the traditional model of being convicted and placed on probation, which only about 20 percent of people successfully complete, and then going back to prison for the other 80 percent,” Martens told gmtoday.com in 2020. “To the extent that you can help some of those people who would otherwise be going to prison, everyone wins.”

Prior to taking the bench, Martens had served as the district attorney for Washington County, an assistant district attorney, and worked in private practice. He holds a bachelor’s and masters’ degree from UW Madison, and a law degree from Harvard Law School.


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Third Branch eNews is an online monthly newsletter of the Director of State Courts Office. If you are interested in contributing an article about your department’s programs or accomplishments, contact your department head. Information about judicial retirements and judicial obituaries may be submitted to: Sara.Foster@wicourts.gov