Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan resigned from her judicial duties weeks after being convicted of obstruction for helping an illegal immigrant evade arrest.
Dugan was found guilty of one obstruction charge by a jury in federal court last month, after helping an illegal immigrant who was before her court escape out a backdoor once she realized federal immigration officers were there to arrest him. While her lawyers have asked the court for a new trial, the convicted judge offered her resignation to Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) over the weekend, after increasing pressure from Republicans in the state.
“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary. I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” Dugan said in the letter, per local Milwaukee news station WITI.
“However, the Wisconsin citizens that I cherish deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 31 rather than have the fate of that Court rest in a partisan fight in the state legislature,” she added.
Dugan had been suspended by the Wisconsin Supreme Court shortly after she was charged by the Justice Department with obstruction in April 2025. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled, with her conviction carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Because Dugan does not have a previous criminal record, she is unlikely to get close to the maximum sentence.
Republican leaders in the Wisconsin legislature had warned Dugan they would initiate impeachment proceedings if she did not resign, shortly after she was found guilty of the felony obstruction charge.
JUDGE HANNAH DUGAN’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ESCAPE CASE HEADS TO JURY FOR RULING
Dugan’s lawyers have requested U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman extend deadlines to file briefs in their bid for a new trial through the coming months, meaning the legal battle over the obstruction charges appears far from settled. A resolution to the request for a new trial is expected as soon as March.
The high-profile arrest of Dugan last year made national headlines, as the Justice Department argued the prosecution of the Milwaukee judge was intended to show judges were not above the law. The arrest came in a year when local and state courts had shown resistance to federal immigration operations, with some banning federal officials from their courthouses.