“I don’t know when I’m going to get time to look at them,” he said. “I don’t have the time to do everything.”

Marcou said it’s not unusual for him to put 22 to 26 hours into what’s supposed to be a part-time position. Court is held every Wednesday and he presides over trials most Thursdays; he also spends time reviewing court emails and files and talking to police. Statistics from his court show there were 24 trials all last year.

Offenders are given multiple chances to pay their fine or make arrangements to do so, he said. Last summer, Marcou began mailing delinquent offenders a copy of their arrest warrant, active only in La Crosse and surrounding counties, although it had not been filed.

“I thought that would scare people,” Marcou said.

It didn’t. The judge said only 10 to 15 percent of those sent the warrant would address their outstanding fine.

“The warrant letters and the warrant hearings we held required a lot more time and effort for me and my staff as opposed to just doing a warrant,” the judge said. “I was primarily interested in getting some resolution and/or payments on these unpaid citations without incurring the ever-increasing expense of incarceration.”