Contact Information

Email Address

Office Location

P.O. Box 339
10 4th Avenue
Shell Lake, WI 54871

Phone Number

(715) 468-4677

Fax Number

(715) 468-4678

Hours of Operation

Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Staff

Clerk of Circuit Court & Register in Probate
Shannon Anderson

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Chief Deputy Clerk of Court 
Amanda Shafer

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Deputy Clerk of Court
Tonya Haremza

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Deputy Clerk of Court
Hailey Fowler

Social Media

Commitments

An involuntary commitment is a legal process by which an individual who is presenting as a danger to self or others may be required to receive treatment and medications involuntarily. These cases, governed by Chapter 51 of the Wisconsin Statutes, are prosecuted in Washburn County by the Office of Corporation Counsel.

Involuntary commitment proceedings are initiated in one of three ways:

A Statement of Emergency Detention by a Law Enforcement Officer (most common)

A law enforcement officer may take an individual into custody if the officer has cause to believe:

  1. The individual is mentally ill, is drug dependent, or is developmentally disabled.
  2. Taking the person into custody is the least restrictive alternative appropriate to the person’s needs.
  3. The individual evidences:
    1. Recent threat or attempt at suicide or serious bodily harm.
    2. Recent threat to do serious physical harm to others.
    3. Substantial probability of physical impairment or injury to self, based upon the individual’s impaired judgment.
    4. Substantial probability of death or serious physical injury due to individual’s inability to satisfy basic needs for nourishment, medical care, shelter or safety.

A Statement of Emergency Detention by a Treatment Director

If an individual has been voluntarily admitted to an approved treatment facility, such as the NorthCentral Healthcare Center (NCHC), the treatment director may sign a statement of emergency detention and may detain, evaluate, diagnose and treat the individual according to the law if conditions exist for taking the individual into custody as described above.

Three-Party Petition Process

Questions regarding third party commitments need to be directed to the Washburn County Corporation Counsel.

Court Hearings

Probable Cause Hearing Within 72 Hours of Detention

Should the court order a Probable Cause Hearing, the subject will remain inpatient at North Central Health Care (or another facility as designated) until the time of the hearing.

The subject will be provided with an attorney from the Public Defender’s Office for the entire involuntary commitment process.

Treatment staff, law enforcement and/or witnesses present testimony to the court regarding their evaluation or observations of the subject. In the case of a 3-Party Petition, all petitioners will be required to testify in court in front of the subject. All petitioners will be cross-examined by the subject’s attorney regarding the contents of the Petition.

If the court finds probable cause to believe the allegations in the Statement of Emergency Detention or the 3-Party Petition, the subject is routinely returned to the facility to be examined by court-appointed examiners and await a final hearing

Final Hearing Within 14 Days of Detention

Evaluating doctors, treatment staff, law enforcement and/or witnesses/petitioners present testimony to the court regarding their evaluation or observations of the subject. Should the subject demand a jury trial, all treatment staff, evaluators, and witnesses/petitioners must be available for a full-day trial in order to provide testimony under oath.

After a final hearing, the subject may be committed for involuntary treatment up to six months. Commitment orders may be extended if properly petitioned by North Central Health Care, Marathon County’s designated care center.