BARBARA MCCRORY

The night she won election as Rock County’s first woman judge, Barbara Ward McCrory stood in the courthouse parking lot, talking with a reporter. She looked up at the courthouse mural, and she said, “I’m humbled. Standing here and looking at the mural reminds me I’m walking in the footsteps of some women who worked very hard. I’m grateful, overwhelmed and happy.”

That was 2012. Since then, McCrory continues to work hard. Currently, she is the longest serving judge on Rock County’s bench. McCrory hears criminal, civil, family and probate cases. She also serves as the presiding judge, handling administrative issues facing the Rock County court system. McCrory is vice-chair of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

Presiding over Rock County’s Drug Treatment Court is her most rewarding and difficult job. She meets weekly with participants, encouraging their progress and holding them accountable for their actions. McCrory’s happiest days on the bench happen at drug court graduation.

McCrory does not limit her judicial work to Rock County. She regularly teaches at judicial education seminars. McCrory chairs the Family Law Bench Book Committee. She serves on the Records Management Committee, a group responsible for all forms used in Wisconsin’s judicial system.

As a member of Cargill United Methodist Church, McCrory has served in a number of leadership positions. She was member of the UMC statewide credentialing committee.  McCrory chaperoned fifteen (15) high school mission trips. McCrory loves singing in the church choir and Janesville’s Choral Union.

McCrory graduated from UW-Madison in 1983 with a degree in agricultural journalism and in 1992 with a law degree. She was born and raised on a dairy farm west of Fort Atkinson, WI. McCrory has three children, Ryan (Chelsea), Dan, and Cait. McCrory is the doting grandmother of Daisy. Her husband, Marc, passed away in 2015.