No matter which way the election turns out on April 7, Kenosha County residents will end up with a fine judge. Both Fred Zievers and Chad Kerkman are excellent candidates to be the judge in a newly created branch of Kenosha County Circuit Court.

Kerkman, 38, has worked as a prosecutor as well as a defense attorney. He worked for the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office for three years before going into private practice in 2000. He also has training as an engineer, having earned an engineering degree from Purdue University before going to the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Kerkman proposes that Kenosha County create a specialized drug court that might increase efficiency and provide for alternatives to incarceration, and he has advocated for more collaboration between different parts of the judicial system in domestic violence cases.

Zievers, 57, has also been both a prosecutor and a defense attorney. He was the first assistant in the District Attorney’s Office, and he also worked as a special prosecutor for the county in a white-collar criminal case against former administrators of Gateway Technical College. He has had some high-profile cases as a defense attorney as well, and he has worked as a part-time court commissioner.

Zievers has also offered some ideas about improving efficiency of the court.

Zievers says judges command respect by showing fairness, by giving everyone in the courtroom respect and letting people know that their case is important.

Either one of these candidates would probably make a fine judge. Both have received endorsements from members of the legal community.

We lean to Zievers because of his more extensive experience. We think he will be confident on the bench and will inspire confidence in those who appear in his courtroom.