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Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was not on the bench Monday following her arrest on federal charges last week for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade authorities — but she is still getting paid, The Post has learned.
A reserve judge took over Dugan’s calendar obligations, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Court System confirmed, adding: “Judge Dugan is not on administrative leave at this time.”
The spokesperson added they were not sure how long the reserve judge would spell Dugan, whose next appearance in her criminal case is scheduled for May 15.
The judge was arrested Friday and faces charges of obstruction of justice and concealing Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from apprehension by federal immigration authorities outside her courtroom, where he had appeared for a pre-trial hearing on misdemeanor battery charges.
Dugan could receive up to 10 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Prosecutors say Dugan was told ahead of Flores-Ruiz’s April 18 proceeding that “there appeared to be ICE agents in the hallway” and angrily demanded the officers leave the building.
After racing through Flores-Ruiz’s appearance, the feds say, Dugan directed the defendant and his attorney out of the courtroom’s “jury door” to a non-public area of the courthouse, where the feds had been informed they couldn’t make the arrest.
“According to the courtroom deputy, only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door,” the complaint read. “Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.”
Court records and the federal complaint indicate that Dugan quietly scheduled a status conference in Flores-Ruiz’s case for May 14 — apparently without telling prosecutors.
Flores-Ruiz managed to make it out of the courthouse, but was apprehended following a foot chase after federal agents spotted him going down the elevator.
The Mexican national had been arrested March 14 following a fight two days earlier in which he allegedly punched and choked another man during an argument over loud music, according to a police report obtained by The Post. A woman who tried to break up the fight further claimed Flores-Ruiz “intentionally and without consent struck her multiple times in her head.”
Flores-Ruiz had been deported from the US once before, in 2013. It is not clear when or how he crossed the border a second time.
Dugan was first elected to the bench in 2016 and reelected in 2022.
Her arrest sparked protests in Wisconsin over the weekend, including from other judges.
In rural Sawyer County, Circuit Judge Monica Isham suggested she would not hear cases.
“If there is no guidance for us and no support for us, I will refuse to hold court in Branch 2 in Sawyer County,” Isham wrote in a private missive, Wisconsin Right Now reported. “I will not put myself or my staff who may feel compelled to help me or my community in harm[‘]s way.”
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