Lawmakers Want Judges To Set Felony Bonds, Not Court Commissioners

Three state lawmakers say judges should have to set bonds for all felony criminal suspects, and not let court commissioners do that. Retired judge Fred Kessler, an Assembly Democrat from Milwaukee, proposed a bill after Frank Schiller of Oconomowoc allegedly struck and killed a Good Samaritan last weekend while Schiller was free on a signature bond for his fifth drunk driving offense. Kessler says court commissioners often set felony bonds in larger counties, and forcing elected judges to do that would make them more accountable. Assembly Republicans John Spiros of Marshfield and Joel Kleefisch of Oconomowoc joined Kessler as the bill’s main sponsors. Schiller was charged Thursday with ten felonies for last Saturday’s crash on Interstate 94 near Delafield — in which prosecutors say the 37-year-old Schiller was passing others while on a shoulder where his vehicle hit and killed Peter Enns of Alberta, Canada while Enns was changing a flat tire for somebody else.