CUDAHY - The Wisconsin Judicial Commission filed a complaint against municipal judge John Zodrow accusing him of a long backlog of cases.

The complaint says Zodrow racked up a 3,500 case backlog dating back to 2002.

The backlog increased in May of this year when Zodrow stopped hearing parking ticket cases out of protest for the way Cudahy police process the citations.  

Cudahy Police Chief Tom Poellot released a statement that said the "Cudahy Municipal Court is undermining the effectiveness of law enforcement in Cudahy." He also wrote "the effectiveness and efficiency of the Cudahy Municipal Court must be addressed and must be changed."

Judge Zodrow said the problem is two-fold.  First he said the court has been understaffed for years. Second, he admits to stopping parking ticket cases after a disagreement with the police department.
 
"We’ve had to operate with a skeleton crew for the last ten years," Zodrow said in an interview. "The city fathers historically have expected our court to be a cash cow for the city but they wanted the cash without having to feed the cow."
 
An outside audit found the court is understaffed. Monday night, the Cudahy Commony Council voted to add an additional half-time clerk to assist the court with cases.  Zodrow said that will help alleviate the problem.
 
Zodrow does admit to not hearing parking ticket cases after May of this year. "I have been putting those on the back burner as a protest against the unworkable situation we have with parking tickets."

Zodrow said changes in the computer system caused the dispute.  However, new computer software should help correct the problem.
 
Because of the complaint against Zodrow by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court will likely look at his case to decide if any disciplinary action should be taken.

If members of the court decide to discipline Zodrow, that could come in the form of a reprimand, a suspension, or removal from the bench.
 
The position of municipal judge is an elected office.