Wisconsin Court Records Search

Wisconsin Court Records & Case Lookup

According to the Director of State Courts Office in Wisconsin, the courts in the state handle about 700,000 cases annually. In 2023, the over 757,000 cases heard in Wisconsin courts included 145,000 civil and small claims matters, 57,000 misdemeanors, 56,000 felony (non-traffic) cases, 33,000 probate matters, 35,000 family cases, and 403,000 traffic and forfeiture matters.

Most of the cases heard in the state courts are available to the public for inspection and copying. However, some records may be categorized as confidential as permitted under law and therefore not available to the public.

The state judiciary makes court records available to requesters via a few options. These options include online access via the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access system and another case search portal dedicated to the records of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. To obtain actual copies of Wisconsin court records, you may have to visit the office of the court clerk in the courthouse where the case was filed or finalized.

State of Wisconsin Court System

The Wisconsin court system was created when Wisconsin became a state in 1848 by Article VII of the Wisconsin Constitution. Then, the state was separated into five judicial districts, with five judges required to meet in Madison at least once annually as a Supreme Court.

In 1962, the Wisconsin court system was reorganized into a two-tiered trial system with circuit courts and county courts. Later in 1978, the state merged the circuit and county courts into a single trial court system (circuit court). It also created the operations of a court of appeals as an intermediate appellate court.

In addition, Wisconsin retained authorization for municipalities to operate municipal courts for the adjudication of local ordinance violations.

Wisconsin Trial Courts

The circuit court makes up the single-tiered trial court system in Wisconsin. The court handles civil and criminal cases.

Circuit Courts in Wisconsin

The circuit court is the state's trial court of general jurisdiction, with original jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases, except where the jurisdiction is assigned to a higher court. The court's jurisdiction covers probate, juvenile, and traffic matters, civil jury trials, and criminal jury trials. More than 250 judges sit in 72 Wisconsin circuit courts.

Wisconsin circuit courts are separated into branches, with at least one in every county, except six counties that are paired, sharing judges.

Other Courts in Wisconsin

The municipal court is not recognized as part of Wisconsin's trial courts. However, the state allows municipalities to operate municipal courts to handle cases involving parking, traffic, ordinance, and first-time drunk driving matters. Many of the cases heard in Wisconsin municipal courts also include juvenile matters, such as underage drinking, drug offenses, truancy, and curfew violations. The laws guiding the operations of Wisconsin municipal courts are contained in Chapters 755 and 800 of the Wisconsin Statutes.

As of February 2021, more than 230 municipal judges sit on matters brought before the 229 municipal courts in the state.

What are the Specialty Courts in Wisconsin?

One of the biggest issues people charged with crimes in Wisconsin face is the possibility of prolonged imprisonment terms. However, the establishment of specialty courts, also called problem-solving courts, allows persons facing criminal charges to explore alternative resolutions to criminal punishment, including rehabilitation.

The most common problem-solving courts in Wisconsin are:

• Drug treatment courts
• OWI courts
• Mental health courts
• Juvenile courts
• Domestic violence courts
• Veterans' courts
• Reentry courts

Wisconsin State Court Records vs. Federal Court Records

Court records are information, exhibits, documents, and other forms of data containing information in connection with cases filed and heard in courts. Therefore, documents and information maintained by the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the circuit courts within the Wisconsin court system are state court records.

On the other hand, federal court records are information, documentation, and information maintained by the federal courts in Wisconsin concerning the cases heard in those courts. There are two federal courts in Wisconsin. These are the:

• United States District Court Western District of Wisconsin
• United States District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin

Note that the jurisdiction of federal courts in Wisconsin is limited to matters relating to federal questions and constitutional matters, including bankruptcy cases. Federal court records are available via the Public Access to Court Records (PACER), while the Wisconsin state court records may be accessed online or via in-person visits to the courts where the cases were finalized.

What Are Public and Non-Public Court Records in Wisconsin?

The Wisconsin public records law permits the public to inspect or obtain copies of records maintained by government authorities, including Wisconsin courts. The Wisconsin Supreme Court recognizes the state's public records law to extend to courts in the state, with certain exceptions, allowing the public to view all records maintained by the clerks of the Circuit Court.

Note that some entire court records are confidential, while some portions of public records may be redacted. The table below shows common public and non-public court records in the state.

Note that some Wisconsin court records are confidential until specific events occur in a court action, at which point they become open records. For instance, an action to determine paternity, which is considered confidential only until paternity is determined, or a search warrant, which remains confidential only until the warrant is executed.

How To Seal or Expunge Wisconsin Court Records

Wisconsin courts allow court records to be sealed or expunged in different circumstances. Per Section 801.21 of the Wisconsin Statutes, if a document is not protected by the Wisconsin Statute, a party connected to the record who intends to restrict public access to the record may file a motion to seal part or all of the document.

Expungement is also similar to sealing. In expungement, a court seals the entire criminal case file, including paper and electronic forms, allowing no one to access the file or record except in instances where a court order has been obtained to access the record.

Wisconsin courts may expunge a court record in the following circumstances:

• For crimes punishable by up to a six-year imprisonment term, committed by an individual under 25, where the sentence is completed
• In juvenile cases, where the individual reaches age 17, and has satisfactorily fulfilled the terms of their dispositional order

With limited exception, an adult may only be eligible for expungement of their court record if the court orders it at the time of sentencing. Typically, the state does not allow an adult to file an expungement petition after they have been sentenced.

An expungement order in Wisconsin requires all court records relating to the conviction to be sealed, obliterated, or otherwise removed completely from view. Therefore, no record of the case, except for its case number, may be available on the public-facing database maintained by the Wisconsin court system.

How To Seal Court Records in Wisconsin

You may ask the court to redact certain pieces of information, seal a document, or seal an entire record using the relevant forms:

• Form GF-245 - Confidential Disclosure of Information to be Sealed or Redacted
• Form GF-246A - Motion to Seal or Redact a Court Record
• Form GF-246B - Order on Motion to Seal or Redact a Court Record
• Form GF-247A – Motion to Seal or Redact a Transcript
• Form GF-247B – Order on Motion to Seal or Redact a Transcript

Note that the court clerk cannot seal a record as the sealing decision must be made by the court. You must cite legal authority, including court rules, Wisconsin statutes, case law, and any necessary facts to explain why the information or record you want redacted should not be publicly available.

The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access system automatically places Form GF-245 under temporary seal when submitted via eFiling. You are advised to check the radio button labeled "seal" to seal the documents submitted with the GF-245. Until the court rules on the motion to seal, the information sought to be redacted may only be viewed by you (the petitioner). However, documents to be sealed using Forms GF-246A and GF-247A, and their orders GF-246B and GF-247B, remain open to the public until the determination of the court.

How To Expunge Court Records in Wisconsin

If the judge finds you or your record eligible for expungement when you were sentenced and you have completed the sentence, expungement should be automatic. The court clerk's office will enter the expungement once it receives your certificate of discharge from your probation officer or correctional institution.

However, if you were not sentenced to prison, jail, or probation, but had to pay a restitution or fine, you may petition the court to expunge your record using a completed Form CR-266. If you are a juvenile and want to expunge an eligible record, use Form JD-1780 instead of CR-266.

How Do You Access State of Wisconsin Court Records?

The public may view all non-confidential portions of Wisconsin circuit court records in person, at the office of the clerk of court for the county where the case was filed, or view certain portions of the circuit court record online via the Director of State Courts' public internet website.

In 1999, the Director of State Courts introduced the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) system, a publicly available resource providing access to select public records maintained by the courts. This website, often referred to as WCCA, is accessible without charge and is available for use at any time.

While the WCCA system is frequently called "CCAP", the term CCAP - an acronym for Consolidated Court Automation Programs - does not refer to the system itself. Instead, CCAP is a case management system developed by the Director of State Courts to facilitate the administration of court cases.

Note that the WCCA website does not provide access to the actual documents filed in a case. While the court record may note the filing of a document and include a brief description, the content of the document itself is not available for viewing on the WCCA platform. Documents, which are typically submitted electronically to the clerk of court or scanned into an electronic record, may only be accessed by visiting the courthouse in person.

Online Access to Wisconsin Court Records

The state judiciary provides online access to public court records via the:

• Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) system: The information displayed on the WCCA system is an exact copy of the case information entered into the state's circuit court case management system by court staff in the counties where the case files are located. You may perform a search on the WCCA system using party name, business name, or case number information.

  The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) website typically provides a case summary that includes essential information such as the names of the parties involved, a limited court record, the type of case (e.g., mortgage foreclosure, divorce, or criminal matter), the court official assigned to the case, and the status of the case, indicating whether it is pending or completed.

• Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Access system: You may perform a search for case information for cases in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals via the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Access system. The system requires users to provide an appeal number, circuit court case name, party name, business name, or attorney name to perform a search.

In-Person Access to State of Wisconsin Court Records

You may view an entire case file, including all non-confidential documents, in person at the office of the court clerk for the county where the case was heard. If the case file is stored electronically, the contents of the file may be viewed at a public access terminal located within the clerk of the court's office.

If the case file is stored in whole or in part in a paper file, the file may still be viewed but there may be a brief time before the file may be retrieved from storage. A public case file is viewable in person for the entire time it is retained by the clerk of court; even cases that are no longer displayed on the WCCA system may be inspected in person as long as the file is retained.

How To Request Judicial Administrative Records

Judicial administrative records typically include a wide range of documents that may be maintained by local circuit court clerks or the Office of the Director of State Courts. If the document you want is maintained by a circuit clerk, contact the office of the clerk to submit a written request. If the Office of the Director of State Courts is the custodian of the record you want, submit your request to:

How To Access Older and Archived Court Records in Wisconsin

If you want to view an old or archived court record in Wisconsin, you may submit a record request by submitting a microfilm request to the office of the clerk of the court where the case is filed. If the record is not available on microfilm, it may be available via hard copy. Hence, contact the clerk of the court to find out the appropriate means to submit a request for an old or archived court record in that jurisdiction.

Some older Wisconsin court records are released to the Wisconsin Historical Society at the end of the stated retention period. Therefore, if an old record you want is not with the court clerk, consider contacting the Wisconsin Historical Society or the Wisconsin States Archives.