A criminal arrest in Beaver Dam does not stay in Beaver Dam. The city has its own police department, and the Dodge County Sheriff and State Patrol work the same streets and the US Highway 151 corridor that runs through town — but once officers make an arrest on a state misdemeanor or felony, the case leaves the city fast. The Dodge County District Attorney’s Office reviews the police reports and decides what to charge, and an initial appearance gets scheduled at the county courthouse whether or not you have a lawyer yet. The stretch before that first hearing — while investigators still want a statement and the charges haven’t hardened — is when a defense does its most valuable work.

Mays Law Office represents clients across Wisconsin from our office in Middleton — including Beaver Dam and the rest of Dodge County. If you were arrested here — or you got the call that someone you love is in custody — what you say before that first court date can shape everything that follows. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you give anyone else your account of what happened.

Criminal Defense Attorneys in Beaver Dam, WI

Attorney Stephen E. Mays has practiced law in Wisconsin since 1995 and was named a 2025 Wisconsin Super Lawyer in DUI/DWI defense. He belongs to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the State Bar of Wisconsin. A Beaver Dam criminal case is charged by the Dodge County DA’s office and heard by Dodge County judges in Juneau — and a defense has to be built for that courtroom.

A criminal defense lawyer’s job is to hold the State to its burden on every element of every charge: was the stop lawful, was the questioning constitutional, does the evidence prove what the complaint alleges. Those are the questions a case needs answered from the start.

When to Call Our Beaver Dam, WI Criminal Defense Lawyers

Call us right away if any of the following applies to you:

• You or a family member is in custody. Bail is set at the initial appearance, and the terms of that release can shape the entire case. Counsel should be in place before it happens.
• An officer wants to “ask a few questions.” Miranda warnings are required only during custodial interrogation — if a reasonable person in your position would not consider the situation the equivalent of formal arrest, no warning is owed, and what you say can still be used against you (though other challenges, like voluntariness, may remain).
• Police responded to a domestic incident at your home. Wisconsin’s mandatory-arrest law, Wis. Stat. § 968.075, generally requires an arrest in defined circumstances once officers find reasonable grounds — even if the other person begged them not to. A 72-hour no-contact provision then takes effect automatically, lifts early only if the alleged victim signs a written waiver, and violating it while it is in force is a separate crime.
• You’re charged with a felony. You’re entitled to a preliminary hearing where the State must show probable cause — a stage the defense can use for early discovery.
• You’re out on bond. Intentionally violating a bond condition is bail jumping under Wis. Stat. § 946.49 — a Class A misdemeanor on a misdemeanor case, a Class H felony carrying up to 6 years on a felony case. It stacks on top of the original charge even if you’re later acquitted of it.
• You’re under 25 and hoping to keep your record clean. Expungement eligibility in Wisconsin is limited — it depends on your age, the offense, and your record — and it must be granted at the moment of sentencing, not after. If the court doesn’t take it up at that hearing, the opportunity is gone for good.

Wisconsin Misdemeanor and Felony Penalties

Wisconsin sorts crimes into three misdemeanor classes and nine felony classes, and the class attached to your charge sets the maximum exposure.

Misdemeanors (Wis. Stat. § 939.51) are punishable by county jail time:

• Class A misdemeanor: up to 9 months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
• Class B misdemeanor: up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine.
• Class C misdemeanor: up to 30 days and a $500 fine.

Felonies (Wis. Stat. § 939.50) are punishable by state prison and run from Class I — up to 3 years and 6 months and a $10,000 fine — through Class H (6 years, $10,000), Class G (10 years, $25,000), Class F (12 years and 6 months, $25,000), Class E (15 years, $50,000), Class D (25 years, $100,000), Class C (40 years, $100,000), and Class B (60 years), up to Class A, which carries life imprisonment.

Under Wisconsin’s truth-in-sentencing system, a felony prison sentence is bifurcated: initial confinement followed by mandatory extended supervision in the community, with no traditional parole for offenses committed after 1999. If supervision is revoked for a rule violation, you can be reconfined for up to the time remaining on the bifurcated sentence — and time already spent in the community generally does not reduce that exposure.

Criminal Charges We Defend

Our Wisconsin criminal defense practice handles the charges Beaver Dam-area residents actually face:

• Disorderly conduct (Wis. Stat. § 947.01) — the catch-all Class B misdemeanor. The State must prove both the conduct and circumstances tending to provoke a disturbance; context and First Amendment defenses matter.
• Battery (Wis. Stat. § 940.60) — the charge scales with the injury: simple battery is a Class A misdemeanor, substantial battery a Class I felony, and aggravated battery a Class H or Class E felony depending on intent.
• Domestic abuse allegations — battery or disorderly conduct between spouses or former spouses, adults who live together or formerly lived together, or adults with a child in common can trigger mandatory arrest when the statutory conditions are met, and an arrest starts the 72-hour no-contact period (waivable only by the alleged victim, in writing).
• Drug possession and delivery (Wis. Stat. § 961.41) — first-offense marijuana possession is an unclassified misdemeanor (up to 6 months and a $1,000 fine), but a second possession offense of any drug is a Class I felony, and first-offense possession of a Schedule I or II narcotic drug (or methamphetamine) is a Class I felony. Possession-with-intent charges are all felonies graded by weight — and prosecutors often build “intent” on circumstantial evidence like baggies, a scale, or cash.
• Theft (Wis. Stat. § 943.20) — a Class A misdemeanor when the value is $2,500 or less, escalating by value to a Class G felony over $10,000; theft of a firearm is a Class H felony regardless of value.
• Bail jumping (Wis. Stat. § 946.49) — among the most frequently charged crimes in Wisconsin, and defensible when the alleged violation doesn’t hold up — the State still has to prove an intentional violation.

Where a Beaver Dam Criminal Case Actually Goes

Beaver Dam has its own municipal court, and that is exactly where a criminal case does not go. The Beaver Dam Joint Municipal Court, at 123 Park Avenue, handles only ordinance matters — city ordinance violations and civil forfeitures decided on a “clear, satisfactory, and convincing” standard, not the criminal “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The Beaver Dam Police Department, the Dodge County Sheriff, and the State Patrol investigate and arrest, but state-law misdemeanors and felonies arising in the city are prosecuted by the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office and heard in the Dodge County Circuit Court at 210 W. Center Street in Juneau, the county seat.

After arrest and booking, the DA’s office reviews the reports and decides whether to file a criminal complaint — some cases instead begin by summons or citation, and prosecutors can decline or amend charges on review. At the initial appearance, the court states the charges, advises you of your right to counsel, and sets bail. Wisconsin has no commercial bail bondsmen — release is by signature bond or cash bond posted with the court or clerk, depending on custody status and county procedure — and since the 2023 constitutional amendments, judges in violent-crime cases may weigh prior violent convictions and the need to protect the community from serious harm when setting bail.

A felony case then generally moves to a preliminary hearing — unless the defense waives it — where the State must establish probable cause before an Information is filed and the case proceeds to arraignment; misdemeanor arraignments typically happen at the initial appearance itself. From there the case moves through discovery, pre-trial motions — suppression chief among them — and plea negotiations. If nothing resolves, the case goes to trial, where every element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Some Wisconsin counties offer deferred-prosecution or diversion agreements that can end with charges reduced or dismissed — whether that path exists for a given case depends on the county and the charge. Whether to pursue that route or fight the charge is a judgment call we make with you, based on the evidence.

How We Defend Criminal Charges

Every case gets examined on at least three fronts:

The search and the seizure. Warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and Wisconsin’s appellate courts keep redrawing the lines — on warrantless home entries, blood draws, and cell phone extractions. If police overstepped, a motion to suppress can take the resulting evidence out of the case.

The questioning. Miranda protects you only during custodial interrogation, so the fight is often over whether you were actually “in custody” when you talked. Statements taken in violation of your rights can be suppressed — and without the statement, many prosecutions lose their spine.

The State’s proof. Every charge has statutory elements the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: disorderly conduct takes more than rudeness, battery and theft require intent, and an “intent to deliver” theory stitched from circumstantial inference can be pulled apart. Where the facts support it, self-defense under Wis. Stat. § 939.48 enters the case — and the threshold for getting that instruction to a jury is low.

We also defend with the aftermath in mind. A felony conviction ends firearm rights — only a governor’s pardon can restore them; convictions in categories like drug offenses, domestic violence, or crimes involving moral turpitude can complicate immigration status; and employers may act on a record that “substantially relates” to the job. Those stakes shape charge-bargaining strategy from day one.

Beaver Dam Criminal Defense Questions We Hear Most

Why is my case being heard in Juneau instead of Beaver Dam?

Because Beaver Dam sits in Dodge County, and Wisconsin criminal cases are prosecuted at the county level. The Beaver Dam Joint Municipal Court on Park Avenue handles only city ordinance matters — it has no authority over misdemeanors or felonies. State-law misdemeanors and felonies arising in Beaver Dam are filed in the Dodge County Circuit Court at 210 W. Center Street in Juneau, the county seat, and prosecuted by the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office. The drive to Juneau is short; the difference between the two courts is not — one decides ordinance forfeitures, the other decides crimes.

The police never read me my rights. Does that get my case thrown out?

By itself, usually not. Miranda applies only to custodial interrogation, and the remedy for a violation is normally suppression of the statement, not dismissal of the case. But a confession is often the spine of the State’s evidence — take it away and the case can collapse — so it’s among the first issues we examine.

My partner wants the domestic abuse charge dropped. Will it be?

Not automatically. The charging decision belongs to the District Attorney, not the alleged victim — part of the same framework that required the arrest once officers found the statutory criteria met. The 72-hour no-contact provision takes effect automatically after the arrest, can be lifted early only if the alleged victim signs a written waiver, and violating it while it’s in force is a new crime. Work through this with counsel, not around it.

I got a ticket in Beaver Dam — is that a crime?

It depends on what you were cited for. A city ordinance violation heard in the Beaver Dam Joint Municipal Court is a civil matter that carries a monetary forfeiture, not jail, and is proven only by “clear, satisfactory, and convincing” evidence — a lower bar than a criminal case. A state misdemeanor or felony is a different animal entirely: it goes to the Dodge County Circuit Court in Juneau, carries the possibility of jail or prison, and must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If you’re holding paperwork and aren’t sure which track you’re on, that’s worth a phone call before your first court date.

Can I get my record expunged later?

Only if the groundwork was laid at sentencing. Wisconsin’s expungement statute (Wis. Stat. § 973.015) requires that you were under 25 at the time of the offense, that the charge carried a maximum of 6 years or less (with extra restrictions for Class H and I felonies and certain excluded offenses), that the court found expungement would benefit you without harming society, and — critically — that the judge granted expungement eligibility at the sentencing hearing itself. Even then, expungement happens only after you successfully complete the sentence — and it seals the conviction from the public court record, nothing more. It does not restore firearm rights, and it does not erase the record from Department of Justice background checks: law enforcement and certain licensing authorities can still see it. Retroactive expungement is not allowed; miss the moment and the door closes permanently.

Get a Free Consultation

Se Habla Español — Call 608-305-4518

Whether it’s a misdemeanor citation or a felony complaint, the earliest days after arrest or charging are when a defense takes shape. Call 608-305-4518 or contact Mays Law Office online for a free consultation. Mays Law Office, LLC — 6405 Century Ave STE 103, Middleton, WI 53562.