Judge Derek Mosley Resigning For Marquette Job

Milwaukee’s best-known judge will soon put away his gavel and robe.

Municipal court judge Derek Mosley is joining Marquette University as the director of the law school’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education. He’ll begin his new role in January, returning to the law school he graduated from in 1995.

Since 2002, Mosley has served as a municipal judge for the city, overseeing a wide variety of municipal offenses including parking tickets and first-time OWIs. The judge is also well-known for officiating weddings, social media posts about the city’s food scene and his Black History Month posts on Facebook. In 2016, he gained national attention for receiving a life-saving kidney transplant from another judge, and in early 2020 made health headlines again as he spent several days in an intensive care unit battling COVID-19.

Prior to serving as municipal judge he was an assistant district attorney.

“I am thrilled to be coming home to Marquette to serve the public good in new and valuable ways as director of the Lubar Center,” Mosley said in a press release announcing the role. “It has been my great honor to have served the people of Milwaukee for more than 27 years, first as a prosecutor and then a presiding judge. I now look forward to the unique and exciting challenge of helping to advance public understanding of and discourse around matters of law and public policy through the city’s preeminent public forum.”

The Lubar Center oversees the Marquette Law School Poll, the “On The Issues” conversations series and a number of conferences. It also oversees a substantial amount of research work.

“The Marquette community is blessed to welcome Derek Mosley back to campus as the director of the Lubar Center. Our students and community will benefit greatly from Derek’s breadth of knowledge, keen understanding of social dynamics and extensive nonprofit experience,” said Marquette President Mike Lovell. “The Lubar Center serves as an important hub of public discourse in Milwaukee, and Derek’s deep connections and love for our city will help further the center’s mission in profound ways.”

Mosley will need to resign to take the new job. The Common Council will get to appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of his four-year term, which runs through April 2023. A citywide election will occur to fill the seat. Mosley was first elected in 2003 and re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019

At the time of Mosley’s appointment, he was the youngest African American judge (31) in Wisconsin history. He currently serves as presiding judge, the top judge in the three-judge Milwaukee Municipal Court. The other two judgeships are held by Phillip M. Chavez and Valarie Hill.

Mosley will fill a role first held by Mike Gousha, who stepped back into an emeritus role earlier this year. “With Mike’s stepping back from full-time duties earlier this year, we searched for an individual of inquiry and integrity to continue and expand our work, as director of the center. His background and relationships in Milwaukee help make Judge Mosley uniquely qualified for this role, and I am grateful for his confidence and enthusiasm about his new role,” said law school dean Joseph Kearney.

“Since its inception, the Lubar Center has sought to be a public resource for this region, a home for important conversations, new ideas, and independent polling and research,” said Gousha, who now serves as senior advisor. “As a respected voice and innovative thinker on law and public policy matters, Judge Mosley is a terrific choice to build on the Lubar Center’s previous work and expand its reach in the years ahead.”

A native of Chicago and an unabashed Chicago Bears fan, Mosley lives on the northwest side of Milwaukee with his wife and two daughters. Municipal judges are paid $133,049 annually.