GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs entered a no contest plea Thursday morning in Brown County court, resolving a criminal case stemming from a May incident at his home in Hobart.
Jacobs appeared in person for the hearing, sitting quietly beside his attorneys as the case moved through court. He spoke only briefly during the proceedings.
“I fully understand the seriousness of the situation, and I take full responsibility,” Jacobs told the judge.
Jacobs had been charged with misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property after prosecutors alleged an argument between Jacobs and a woman turned physical inside and outside his Hobart home on May 23.
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According to the criminal complaint, investigators later recovered surveillance video from the garage through a forensic examination of the home’s camera system. Prosecutors said the footage corroborated portions of the woman’s account.
Judge Marc Hammer accepted Jacobs’ no contest plea and found him guilty on the battery count.
“I will find the defendant, based on this record, guilty of count one battery,” Hammer said during the hearing.
Under the agreement reached Thursday:
- Jacobs received a $1,000 fine plus court costs for the battery conviction.
- The criminal damage to property charge will be dismissed after 12 months if Jacobs successfully completes court-ordered conditions.
- Those conditions include counseling, no contact with the victim, no new offenses and supervision through Brown County Criminal Justice Services.
The case was resolved during what had originally been scheduled as Jacobs’ initial appearance — something local defense attorney Jeffrey Kippa said is uncommon. Kippa was not involved in the case.
“It’s unusual,” Kippa told TMJ4 News. “These cases typically, once filed, might take six, nine months, or even a year to kind of work their way through the system.”
Kippa said the outcome itself appeared fairly standard for a first-time misdemeanor defendant despite the high-profile nature of the case.
“I think the trick in a high-profile case is to make sure that you don’t appear to be giving special treatment, but conversely, you don’t want to appear that you’re coming down extra hard because this is a high-profile case,” Kippa said.
After the hearing, Jacobs and his attorneys left the courthouse without answering questions from reporters.
His legal team later released a statement saying, “With this agreement, Josh has accepted responsibility for his conduct and resolved this matter.”
The attorneys also highlighted Jacobs’ community involvement throughout his NFL career, including charitable work involving homeless youth, military families and children’s programs.
The NFL also released a statement Thursday saying it is “closely monitoring all developments” and confirmed there is “no change” to Jacobs’ status as he remains on the commissioner’s exempt list while the league continues reviewing the case under its personal conduct policy.
Jacobs has been unable to practice or play since being placed on the exempt list in August.
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