Appellate court

Tricia Zunker was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa Court of Appeals in November 2023. 

She has served as Associate Justice of the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court since 2013. She has also served as President of the Wausau Board of Education, is founding director of Central Wisconsin Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee, a 501(c)non-profit entity that organizes the annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Pow Wow in central Wisconsin, and is an enrolled member of Ho-Chunk Nation. Tricia is a first generation college graduate, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a triple major in: (1) French; (2) Political Science; and (3) International Political Economy and Policy Studies. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from UCLA School of Law. In addition to her judicial role, Tricia is a longtime educator.  She teaches concurrently in the Legal Studies department at University of Maryland, in the Criminal Justice department at Colorado State University-Global Campus, and serves as law professor at California School of Law, where she is also Dean of Faculty. Tricia was also candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District in 2020. She is a member of the ACLU of Wisconsin Board of Directors, including serving on the Executive Committee; a member of the Midwest Environmental Advocates Board of Directors; and founding director of Central Wisconsin Indigenous Peoples' Day Committee, Inc.  

Her lived experiences have instilled in her a passion for public education, social justice, protecting the environment, ensuring fundamental rights and achieving representation reflective of society. She resides in central Wisconsin with her thirteen year-old son and their rescue pup, Diesel. 

• Hon. Todd R. Matha

• Hon. Chad Gordon, Esq