First woman takes the bench in Wood County

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday the appointment of Emily Nolan-Plutchak to the Wood County Circuit Court, making her the first woman to serve as a circuit court judge in the county.
Nolan-Plutchak will fill the vacancy created by Judge Todd P. Wolf’s retirement and complete a term ending July 31, 2026.
“Emily Nolan-Plutchak brings integrity, dedication to her community and a commitment to improving the criminal justice system to the bench,” Evers said in a statement.
The appointment caps nearly two decades of legal work in central Wisconsin for Nolan-Plutchak, who began her career as a public defender in Missouri before moving to Wisconsin in 2007.
Since then, she has served as a public defender in Wood, Adams and Portage counties and currently works as the local attorney manager in the Wisconsin Rapids office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender. In that role, she manages the public defender caseload in Wood and Adams counties, including private bar appointments.

Nolan-Plutchak has represented indigent clients in misdemeanor, felony, revocation and juvenile cases. She has been a team member on the Wood County Adult Drug Treatment Court since 2007 and has been active at local, state and national levels in developing best practices for drug treatment courts.
Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker praised the appointment, saying Nolan-Plutchak has “done an excellent job of creating collaborative working relationships to find common ground and to focus on what makes our communities safer.”
“She has earned my trust because of her integrity, her legal ability, her deep involvement in Wood County, and the fact that she is an honest, straightforward individual who treats everyone respectfully,” he added.
Nolan-Plutchak graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University Law School. She has served on the board of Three Bridges Recovery and is a former president of the Wisconsin Association of Treatment Court Professionals.
“It is an honor to serve all the people of Wood County as a judge,” Nolan-Plutchak said. “My commitment to the residents of this beautiful county is straightforward: I will make decisions based on the facts and the law, I will treat all who come before me with respect, I will work collaboratively to strengthen and improve the criminal justice system, and I will serve with humility and deep appreciation for the rule of law.”