Wisconsin Court Records

The court system in Wisconsin handles approximately 780,000 cases annually and is structured into four levels. At the base are the municipal courts, which deal primarily with violations of city, town, and village ordinances. These include traffic tickets, parking violations, and first-offense drunk-driving cases. They also handle minor juvenile issues like truancy and underage drinking.

Above the municipal level are the circuit courts, which serve as the primary trial courts in Wisconsin. These courts have general jurisdiction over all types of civil and criminal cases, including family law, probate, juvenile matters, and more serious criminal offenses.

Cases decided in the circuit courts may be appealed to the court of appeals, Wisconsin's intermediate appellate court. This court reviews cases for legal errors and ensures consistent application of the law. It is divided into four districts located in Madison, Wausau, Waukesha, and Milwaukee. The Wisconsin court of appeals has mandatory jurisdiction, meaning it is required to hear all appeals brought before it.

At the top of the hierarchy is the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which serves as the highest appellate authority in the state. It has discretionary jurisdiction, choosing which cases to hear, usually those involving significant legal principles or constitutional issues. The supreme court also oversees the administration of the state's entire court system, making policy decisions and handling disciplinary cases involving judges and lawyers.

What Are the Types of Court Records In Wisconsin?

A court record in Wisconsin includes information, documents, and exhibits maintained by the court about a judicial proceeding. These records are maintained by the clerk of each court. The following are the specific types of records maintained in each court type in the Wisconsin court system:

• Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Opinions and Decisions: Final written decisions in cases involving important legal principles or constitutional issues.
• Case Dockets: Listings of filings, case actions, and schedules for matters before the court.
• Attorney and Judicial Discipline Records: Files from disciplinary proceedings involving attorneys and judges.
• Administrative Orders: Court-issued directives governing statewide judicial operations or procedures.
• Petitions for Review: Formal requests for the Supreme Court to review decisions made by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
• Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Appellate Case Dockets: Records of appeals from circuit courts, including procedural details and filed documents.
• Court Opinions: Written rulings interpreting state law in appealed cases.
• Briefs and Motions: Legal arguments submitted by parties during the appeal process.
• Oral Argument Records: Audio recordings or summaries of oral arguments heard in appellate cases.
• Wisconsin Circuit Courts
• Criminal Case Records: Information on felonies and misdemeanors, including complaints, trial proceedings, and sentencing.
• Civil Case Records: Lawsuits involving contracts, personal injury, property disputes, and other non-criminal matters.
• Probate and Estate Records: Wills, guardianship appointments, estate inventories, and executor filings.
• Family Law Records: Divorce filings, custody and child support orders, adoption proceedings, and marital property division.
• Juvenile Court Records: Cases related to juvenile delinquency or children in need of protective services.
• Restraining Orders and Injunctions: Protective orders related to domestic abuse, harassment, or other threats.
• Land and Property Disputes: Cases concerning ownership, easements, or zoning conflicts.
• Name Change Records: Legal name change petitions and court orders.
• Wisconsin Municipal Courts
• Traffic and Ordinance Violation Records: Includes speeding tickets, OWI cases, and violations of city ordinances.
• Misdemeanor and Citation Records: Minor criminal offenses such as disorderly conduct and underage alcohol violations.
• Parking Citations: Tickets issued for parking violations in participating municipalities.
• Local Code Violations: Records of cases involving curfews, public nuisance violations, or noise ordinances.

Are Wisconsin Court Records Public?

Most Wisconsin court records are public and may be accessed by anyone under the Wisconsin Open Records Law. With certain exceptions, anyone may view all records maintained by the clerks of the trial courts in the state. Exemptions include:

• Adoption proceedings
• Juvenile delinquency cases
• Termination of parental rights
• Mental health commitment cases
• Guardianship matters
• Confidential documents within public cases, such as financial disclosure statements in divorce proceedings
• Any record sealed or redacted by court order

A case may be sealed by a Wisconsin court to protect the privacy, safety, or reputation of individuals involved, especially in cases involving minors, victims of violent or sexual crimes, or where public disclosure could impact a fair trial.

In Wisconsin, some court records remain confidential only for a limited time, becoming public once certain events occur. For example, paternity cases are private until paternity is legally established, and search warrants are sealed until executed.

How Do I Search Wisconsin Court Records?

The Wisconsin judiciary provides both online and offline access to court records. To access court records online, you may use the following methods:

• WCCA (Wisconsin Circuit Court Access): The WCCA offers a centralized repository for public court records from the trial courts. This portal provides access to civil, criminal, family, probate, small claims, and traffic case records across all circuit courts in the state. To find court records using this portal, visit the WCCA portal and provide a party name, county, and the case number of the record.
• WSCCA (Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals): The WSCCA portal provides public access to the status of appeals filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Generally, the portal includes appeals considered "open" from the end of 1993 forward. To perform a search, provide the appeal case number, circuit court case number, party name, county, court type, district, filing date, and case status.

How To Retrieve Court Records Offline

To access Wisconsin court records offline, visit the courthouse where the case was filed. The clerk of courts are the record custodians for Wisconsin courts. You may locate the office of the clerk to submit a request to obtain standard paper or certified copies of Wisconsin court records.

To help the clerk locate the records you need, you may be required to provide the following information:

• The full name of one or more parties involved in the case
• The case number
• The type of case, such as criminal, civil, and family
• The approximate filing date or year
• An indication of whether you want a plain or certified copy of the record

Note that there is a fee to obtain a copy of a court record. Although prices vary by county, copy fees typically vary between $0.5 and $2 per page, while the certification fee is usually $5 per document. Most copy requests are fulfilled the same day if the record is readily accessible. However, complex or archived cases may take a few business days or even a couple of weeks, depending on the court's workload and whether the records are stored on-site or off-site.

Can I Seal or Expunge a Wisconsin Court Record?

Expungement in Wisconsin refers to a legal process in which the court seals the entire criminal case file, both electronic and paper, and does not permit anyone to access the file unless they have obtained a court order to that effect. Hence, if an order for expungement has been issued by a Wisconsin court, any reference to that record will be removed from the WCCA (Wisconsin Circuit Court Access) website.

Sealing a court record means that a portion of the record or the entire record has been made inaccessible to the public. Sealing also applies to both electronic and paper forms of a court record. Wisconsin's expungement provisions are available under Section 973.015 of the Wisconsin Statutes, while Section 801.21 of the state statutes provides procedures for motions to seal records. Examples of court records that may be sealed include family actions, divorce judgements when set aside after reconciliation, divorce judgements when parties remarry each other, and restraining orders and injunctions.

Wisconsin courts may only expunge criminal records in the following situations:

• Young Adult Offenders: If a person committed a crime before turning 25 and the offense carries a maximum sentence of six years, they may qualify for expungement under Section 973.015 of Wisconsin Statutes. At the time of sentencing, the court must specify that the record will be expunged upon successful completion of the sentence.
• Juvenile Offenders: A juvenile may request expungement upon turning 17, provided they have met all conditions of their court order. This request must be filed as a formal petition to the court, by Section 938.355(4m) of Wisconsin Statutes.
• Victims of Human Trafficking: Individuals convicted of a commercial sex act may seek expungement if the act occurred while they were a victim of human trafficking under Section 973.015(2m) of Wisconsin Statutes.

If you are seeking expungement as a youthful offender, you must ask the court for expungement during sentencing. If your conviction is eligible for expunction, the judge will include expungement in your sentencing order. Hence, once you complete your probation or incarceration sentence, the probation or correctional officer will send the court a certificate of discharge, and the clerk of that court will expunge the record. Usually, this process is automatic. However, if you did not serve jail time or probation, you may need to file a completed Form CR-266 to notify the court that your sentence is complete.

If you are seeking expungement as a juvenile offender or trafficking victim, you are required to file a petition or motion with the court requesting the expunction of the associated record. A juvenile may file the petition (Form JD-1780) upon turning age 17 and completing their sentence. Wisconsin highlights the procedure for expungement for trafficking victims under Section 973.015(2m) of the Wisconsin Statutes.

Note that if you were arrested but never formally charged with a crime, there will be no criminal case on file with the circuit court for expungement. However, you may still request the removal of certain arrest details from the Wisconsin Criminal History Repository. To do this, you must complete and submit a specific request form to the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Crime Information Bureau (CIB). This process only affects records in the state repository and does not erase arrest information held by other law enforcement agencies.

You may request for the removal of your arrest record in the following ways:

• Complete the Wisconsin Fingerprint Record Removal form. Note that if you are requesting record removal after a finding, conviction, or adjudication, you must include other supporting documentation with your request, such as a certified court order that shows the conviction has been reversed, vacated, or set aside.
• Make copies of all the fingerprint record removal forms and supporting documentation

• Submit all documents to:

  Crime Information Bureau

  Attn: Criminal History Unit

  P.O. Box 2718

  Madison, WI 53701-2718

How To Search Federal Court Records in Wisconsin

You may obtain records of the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin online via the PACER system or offline through in-person requests at the court.

Typically, these courts maintain records of matters involving federal law, such as constitutional issues, diversity jurisdiction, bankruptcy, patents, copyrights, admiralty law, and cases where the federal government is a party.

To access their records online:

• Visit the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) website
• Create an account. You must first create an account on the system to search court records. Use the Case Locator Tool to search by name, case number, or other criteria
• Access dockets, filings, and court opinions. Accessing court records via the PACER system costs about $0.10 per page.

To access federal court records offline in Wisconsin:

• Visit the clerk's office at either the Eastern or Western District federal courthouse in Wisconsin
• Provide the case number or party names to request physical or digital copies
• Copying fees may apply; therefore, contact the courthouse in advance to confirm availability and costs.

How To Get Wisconsin Court Records Online for Free?

The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) and the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (WSCCA) portals are two official sources for anyone to find Wisconsin court records online for free. While the WCCA portal provides free access to records of the trial courts, the WSCCA portal provides free online access to records of the appellate courts.

In addition to these official Wisconsin portals, third-party databases also offer a convenient way to search Wisconsin court records. These platforms often compile public records from multiple sources. One reliable option is PeopleRecords.us. This third-party database provides access to a variety of public records, including court documents, criminal records, and civil filings of Wisconsin courts.