Gov. Tony Evers announced in a press release today his appointment of Payal Khandhar to the Dane County Circuit Court–Branch 2. The appointment will fill the vacancy created by Judge Josann M. Reynolds’ resignation. Khandhar will complete a term ending July 31, 2025.
Khandhar began her legal career as an assistant state public defender in 2009, where she represented indigent clients facing criminal prosecution, first in northwestern Wisconsin and then in Dane County. In 2016, she became a private criminal defense practitioner as a partner at Jasti & Khandhar in Madison. Since 2018, she has also served as a supplemental court commissioner for the Dane County Circuit Court. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a case manager for formerly incarcerated women in a residential reentry facility and as a neighborhood-based case worker, assisting low-income families to stabilize their housing.
Khandhar is a graduate of the UW–Madison and the UW Law School. From 2018 to 2022, she served as the board president of JustDane; she has been on the board of directors of the Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin since 2019; and she served on Madison Metropolitan School District’s Ad Hoc Committee on Education Resource Officers.
