13 things about Milwaukee County, Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan

Hannah C. Dugan is from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1835, the county was named after the Milwaukee River.

Milwaukee is the seat of Milwaukee County and the most populous city of Wisconsin. The city is home to the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association and the Milwaukee Brewers of the Major League Baseball.

BREAKING: A Milwaukee County circuit judge has been arrested by the FBI over allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant "evade arrest," according to FBI Director Kash Patel. https://t.co/maDX279M50

— ABC News (@ABC) April 25, 2025

BIOGRAPHY

Dugan is an American lawyer and judge. She refereed attorney discipline cases brought by the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation and served as the president of the Milwaukee Bar Association, which was founded in 1858.

As a professor, Dugan taught law courses at Marquette University in Milwaukee and the Seattle University School of Law in Seattle, Washington, USA. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. From 1977 to 1981, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin where she earned her bachelor’s degree in legal studies.
2. From 1981 to 1993, she attended Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA where she earned her master’s degree in American studies.
3. From 1984 to 1987, she attended the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison where she earned her Juris Doctor.
4. From May 1987 to February 1994, she was a litigation attorney, a supervising attorney and a law firm administrator at the Legal Action of Wisconsin in Madison.
5. From 1993 to 1994, she taught legal writing and research as an adjunct assistant professor at Marquette University.
6. From February 1994 to May 2005, she was a litigation attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee in Milwaukee.
7. In 2004, she taught poverty law as a visiting professor at the Seattle University School of Law and as an adjunct assistant professor at Marquette University.
8. In 2005, she taught professional responsibility as a visiting professor at the Seattle University School of Law.
9. As an adjunct assistant professor at Marquette University, she taught legal aspects of public service from 2005 to 2007 and nonprofit law from 2006 to 2007.
10. From January 2006 to December 2009, he served as the executive director of Catholic Charities of Southeastern Wisconsin.
11. From July 2010 to July 2016, she was a civil law attorney in Milwaukee.
12. She became a Wisconsin circuit judge for Milwaukee County in 2016 and was reelected unopposed in 2022.
13. In 2025, she was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

TIMELINE

Dugan was born in 1959. She is 35 years older than Eduardo Flores Ruiz, who moved from Mexico to the U.S.

2025

• On April 18, 2025, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a warrant for the arrest of Flores, who was accused of misdemeanor battery. After he appeared in her courtroom for a pretrial conference that day, she allegedly helped him avoid being arrested by ICE agents.
• On April 25, 2025, she was arrested by FBI agents and charged with two felony counts of obstruction. Represented by Craig Mastantuono, she was released from custody after appearing in federal court in Milwaukee before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries for a little more than 2 hours.
• On April 29, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court announced that she was being temporarily relieved of her duties as circuit court judge.