The legislature passed an act establishing the office of Police Justice for Janesville.

The evidence

• “The law-abiding disposition of the people of Janesville has made the criminal record a rather tame affair. In 1856, the Legislature passed an act establishing the office of Police Justice. Prior to that time, preliminary examination into all cases, civil and criminal, was had before a Justice of the Peace.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/14-rock-county-ch08-janesville.md, PDF p. 571 / book p. 575

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “1899 and 1905. The criminal business of the city had been taken care of by the police justice from 1856 to 1881 ; among the justices were Sanford A. Hutson, William Smith, M.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/26-history-of-janesville.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 63 / book p. 575

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources