By Shereen Siewert
A candidate for the Marathon County Board of Supervisors has a domestic violence criminal arrest record that includes a felony charge, according to court documents.
James Juedes, 51, of Ringle, is seeking the Dist. 13 seat on the Marathon County Board. The district encompasses a portion of the county just east of Wausau.
Court records show two cases connected to Juedes. In the first case, Juedes was arrested in July 2011 in the town of Reid on a felony charge of making a threat to injure or accuse of a crime. Online court records show Juedes entered into a plea agreement that allowed him to participate in a domestic violence program, which he successfully completed. As a result, the felony charge was dismissed and he was issued a disorderly conduct citation, as per the terms of the agreement.
The second arrest happened in July 2020 in the town of Easton and involved a different alleged victim, who told police Juedes grabbed her by the neck during an argument. He was charged July 8, 2020 with disorderly conduct-domestic abuse, a misdemeanor, and was again offered a plea agreement. This time, Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill deferred judgement for 9 months, during which Juedes completed another court-ordered domestic violence program.
Judge O’Neill dismissed the charge in August, after Juedes completed the program.
Juedes, who is running for the seat along with candidate Mike Ritter, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A criminal record does not disqualify candidates from running for public office.
