EAU CLAIRE COUNTY - On Monday, Eau Claire welcomed a new circuit court judge to an entirely new branch.
Beverly Wickstrom said as a longtime area attorney, it has been her dream to serve Eau Claire County as a circuit court judge.
She grew up in Ripon, in Fond Du Lac County, and went to Lawrence University in Appleton before attending law school at UW-Madison.
She moved to Eau Claire because she wanted to be close to a university, as her father is a college professor. She said she has grown to love Eau Claire's natural beauty.
Now, she has officially been sworn into Eau Claire County. After handling cases at the state and federal levels for 38 years, she said she's ready to get started.
"My parents taught me the importance of giving back to the community," Wickstrom said. "I've been very fortunate in the lessons I've learned from judges, and from other attorneys. At the end of my career I wanted to serve a term or two as judge, voters willing, so I could pay back and help the system."
She said as an attorney, she learned to become a good listener, adding that it is important for a judge to let people know they are heard.
She added that having a new circuit courtroom will ease the workload on each judge and give them more time to focus on each case.