CITY OF SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. — South Milwaukee Municipal Judge Kelly Martyka has resigned after being charged with falsely certifying her nomination papers for the April election.
Martyka plead not guilty to one misdemeanor charge of false swearing. Prosecutors say she did not personally collect all the signatures on her nomination papers herself and signed her name over a whited-out name of another circulator.
A criminal complaint says Martyka admitted that several of the 53 signatures were obtained by someone else. Without those signatures, she would not have met the minimum requirement to appear on the ballot.
Investigators also discovered that Martyka ran for judge in South Milwaukee while living primarily in Racine, although she was not charged with any residency violations. The criminal complaint also says she voted in that election in South Milwaukee.
Martyka won the election in April and resigned in September. She now works as director of development with the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
Court records for the misdemeanor charge show that Martyka changed her address on file from a home in Racine to an apartment in South Milwaukee on Oct. 8.
If convicted of the misdemeanor, she could face nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
