Picture the traffic stop that turns into something more: a Fitchburg officer runs your name near the Fish Hatchery Road corridor at 1 a.m., or a report from a commercial lot off the Beltline puts you in handcuffs. Within hours the file is out of Fitchburg’s hands — booking runs through the Dane County system downtown, the District Attorney’s office decides what to charge, and a court date is set. None of it waits for you to find a lawyer.

Mays Law Office defends misdemeanor and felony charges in Fitchburg and across Dane County from our office in Middleton, close to the courthouse where Fitchburg misdemeanors and felonies are decided. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you give anyone a statement.

Criminal Defense Attorneys Serving Fitchburg, WI

A conviction follows you long after the sentence ends — into job applications, licensing, firearm rights, and immigration files. Who defends you matters as much as what you are charged with.

Attorney Stephen E. Mays has been a Wisconsin lawyer since 1995 and was recognized as a 2025 Wisconsin Super Lawyer in DUI/DWI defense. His memberships track exactly where a Fitchburg case lives: the Dane County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the State Bar of Wisconsin. Because a Fitchburg arrest becomes a Dane County prosecution, knowing how the county’s courtrooms run day to day is not a bonus — it is the job.

From the first call, our focus is the State’s burden: was the stop justified, was the interrogation lawful, does the evidence actually match the complaint. We press those questions before the case hardens.

When to Call Our Fitchburg, WI Criminal Defense Lawyers

The clock on a criminal case starts at the arrest, not at your first hearing. Reach us immediately if:

• Someone you love is in custody. Dane County holds in-custody initial appearances on weekday afternoons before a court commissioner at the Public Safety Building downtown — and bail is set right there. Counsel belongs in place before that hearing, not after.
• An officer wants a “quick conversation.” Miranda warnings are required only during custodial interrogation. If a reasonable person in your shoes would not consider the encounter the equivalent of formal arrest, no warning is owed — and your words remain usable against you (separate challenges, such as voluntariness, may still exist).
• A domestic call ended with you in handcuffs. Under Wisconsin’s mandatory-arrest law (Wis. Stat. § 968.075), once police find reasonable grounds in defined circumstances, arrest is generally required — no matter what the other person told them. From that arrest, a 72-hour no-contact provision applies automatically; only a written waiver signed by the alleged victim lifts it early, and violating it while in force is a fresh crime.
• The complaint says felony. Felony defendants get a preliminary hearing at which the State must establish probable cause. It can be waived — but used well, it is an early window into the State’s case.
• You are already out on bond. Bail jumping under Wis. Stat. § 946.49 punishes the intentional violation of a bond condition — Class A misdemeanor if the underlying case is a misdemeanor, Class H felony with up to 6 years of exposure if it is a felony. It is a separate charge that survives even an acquittal on the original one.
• You are under 25 and worried about your record. Wisconsin expungement is narrow — age, offense, and record all matter — and eligibility must be granted by the judge at the sentencing hearing itself. There is no going back later to ask.

What a Wisconsin Criminal Charge Puts on the Table

Before strategy comes arithmetic: the offense class on your complaint fixes your maximum exposure across Wisconsin’s three misdemeanor classes and nine felony classes.

Misdemeanors (Wis. Stat. § 939.51) carry 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. The ladder starts at Class I — up to 3 years and 6 months plus a $10,000 fine — and climbs 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), topping out at Class A: life imprisonment.

For felonies, Wisconsin’s truth-in-sentencing regime splits a prison term in two — initial confinement, then mandatory extended supervision in the community — with no traditional parole for offenses committed after 1999. A supervision violation can send you back for up to the time remaining on the bifurcated sentence, and the time you already served in the community generally does not shrink that exposure.

Criminal Charges We Defend

Our Wisconsin criminal defense practice covers the charges that actually come out of Fitchburg-area arrests:

• Disorderly conduct (Wis. Stat. § 947.01) — the Class B misdemeanor catch-all. Conviction requires proof of the conduct plus circumstances tending to provoke a disturbance, which makes context — and sometimes the First Amendment — the battleground.
• Battery (Wis. Stat. § 940.60) — graded by harm: 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 — a battery or disorderly conduct charge between spouses or former spouses, adults who live together or formerly lived together, or adults who share a child can trigger mandatory arrest when the statutory conditions are met — and the arrest itself starts the 72-hour no-contact period, liftable early only by the alleged victim’s written waiver.
• Drug possession and delivery (Wis. Stat. § 961.41) — a first marijuana possession offense is an unclassified misdemeanor (up to 6 months and a $1,000 fine); a second possession offense of any drug jumps to a Class I felony, as does first-offense possession of a Schedule I or II narcotic drug or methamphetamine. Every possession-with-intent charge is a felony graded by weight — and “intent” is often just an inference stacked on baggies, a scale, or cash.
• Theft (Wis. Stat. § 943.20) — Class A misdemeanor when the value is $2,500 or less, climbing by value to a Class G felony above $10,000 and a Class F felony above $100,000; stealing a firearm is a Class H felony no matter what it’s worth.
• Bail jumping (Wis. Stat. § 946.49) — one of the most frequently filed charges in Wisconsin, and one of the more defensible: the State must prove the violation was intentional — and whether it can depends entirely on the facts.

Where a Fitchburg Criminal Case Is Actually Heard

Here is the mistake people make in the first week: assuming the case belongs to the Fitchburg Municipal Court at 5520 Lacy Rd. It does not. That court handles only municipal and civil matters — ordinance violations and non-criminal citations. The moment a charge is criminal — any misdemeanor, any felony — Fitchburg loses jurisdiction entirely. Your case is filed in the Dane County Circuit Court at 215 S. Hamilton St. in downtown Madison and prosecuted by the Dane County District Attorney’s Office.

The DA’s review is the first fork in the road: prosecutors read the Fitchburg Police reports — often built alongside the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, which collaborates with Fitchburg PD on the major corridors — and decide whether to file a complaint, decline, or amend; some cases start by summons or citation instead of arrest. Then comes the initial appearance: the court states the charges, advises you of the right to counsel, and sets bail. Out-of-custody misdemeanor defendants generally report to Courtroom 1A at the courthouse; anyone still in custody appears before a court commissioner at the adjacent Public Safety Building. Wisconsin bans commercial bail bondsmen — release comes by signature bond or cash bond posted directly with the court — 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 in setting bail.

Felonies then move to a preliminary hearing — unless waived — where the State must show probable cause before filing an Information and proceeding to arraignment; misdemeanor arraignments usually happen at the initial appearance itself. After that: discovery, pre-trial motions (suppression above all), plea negotiations, and if nothing resolves, a trial at which the State must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt.

Two Dane County off-ramps are worth asking about early. The Community Restorative Court is a pre-charge program for 17-to-25-year-olds facing certain low-level misdemeanors — complete it and charges may never be filed. The Deferred Prosecution Program is a 6-to-36-month agreement that, for defendants the DA’s office accepts, can end with charges reduced or dismissed. Whether to take a diversion path or fight depends on the evidence — a call we make with you.

How We Defend Criminal Charges

Three fronts, opened in the first weeks of every case:

The search and the seizure. A warrantless search is presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and State and federal courts keep redrawing the boundaries — warrantless home entries, OWI blood draws, cell phone extractions. Evidence gathered past the line can be suppressed out of the case.

The questioning. Because Miranda protects only custodial interrogation, the real fight is usually whether you were “in custody” when you spoke. Statements taken in violation of your rights can be suppressed — and prosecutions that lean on a confession often collapse without it.

The State’s proof. Disorderly conduct takes more than being rude; battery and theft demand intent; an “intent to deliver” theory built on inference can be dismantled — every element, beyond a reasonable doubt. Where the facts support it, self-defense under Wis. Stat. § 939.48 is available, and the threshold for putting that instruction before a jury is low.

The defense also has to see past the verdict. A Wisconsin felony conviction ends firearm rights — generally only a governor’s pardon can restore them, and federal law adds its own layer; 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 sit on the table in every charge negotiation, from day one.

Fitchburg Criminal Defense Questions We Hear Most

I got a notice from the Fitchburg Municipal Court — is that where my criminal case will be?

No. The Fitchburg Municipal Court on Lacy Rd handles only municipal and civil matters, such as ordinance violations and non-criminal citations. If you are charged with a crime — any misdemeanor or felony — your case is in the Dane County Circuit Court in downtown Madison, prosecuted by the Dane County District Attorney’s Office. You can even have both at once: a municipal citation on Lacy Rd and a separate criminal case downtown from the same night.

The officer never read me my rights — does my case get thrown out?

By itself, almost never. Miranda governs custodial interrogation only, and the remedy for a violation is suppression of the statement, not dismissal of the case. Still, a suppressed confession can hollow out the State’s proof — which is why the interrogation is among the first things we scrutinize.

The person who called the police doesn’t want to press charges anymore. Is it over?

No — this surprises people every week. In Wisconsin, the charging decision belongs to the District Attorney, not the person who called 911 — the same framework that required the arrest once officers found the statutory criteria met. The 72-hour no-contact provision attaches automatically at arrest, lifts early only through the alleged victim’s signed written waiver, and breaking it while in force is a new criminal charge. Work through it with a lawyer — not around it.

Will I be able to expunge this from my record?

Only if it is set up at sentencing — Wisconsin allows no do-overs. Under Wis. Stat. § 973.015, you must have been under 25 at the time of the offense; the charge must carry a maximum of 6 years or less (with extra restrictions for Class H and I felonies and certain excluded offenses); the court must find expungement benefits you without harming society; and the judge must grant eligibility at the sentencing hearing itself. Even then, expungement takes effect only after you successfully complete the sentence — and it seals the conviction from the public court record rather than erasing it everywhere: it can still appear on Department of Justice background checks, stays visible to law enforcement and certain licensing authorities, and does not restore firearm rights. Miss the moment and the door never reopens.

A family member was arrested in Fitchburg — how do I post bail?

At the bail/release window on the ground floor of the Public Safety Building, 115 W. Doty St. in downtown Madison — cash, money order, or cashier’s check, or a major credit card through a third-party vendor that adds a non-refundable 5% fee. There are no bail bondsmen in Wisconsin, and bail is held by the court to secure appearance — it can be applied toward costs or restitution if there is a conviction.

Get a Free Consultation

Se Habla Español — Call 608-305-4518

The days between a Fitchburg arrest and the first hearing downtown are when a defense either takes shape or gets forfeited. 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.