Wisconsin Court Records

Wisconsin Court Record Lookup

Collecting child support, reinstating a driver’s license, or evicting a tenant require Wisconsin WI court records to execute. In Wisconsin, court records are public documents available when performing Wisconsin court records search.

Limited jurisdiction courts

Municipal courts are created by cities and have jurisdiction over traffic issues and violations of municipal ordinances like trespassing, health code, and animal control cases.

Trial courts

There is at least one circuit court in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. These WI courts include divisions for family law (divorces, custody, child support cases in Wisconsin, neglect, paternity), probate (guardianships, estates, wills), and juvenile cases. As the court of general jurisdiction, circuit courts hold criminal and civil trials. Wisconsin circuit court criminal records can be earned through court records search online tool.

In a recent year, above mentioned Wisconsin courthouses received 115,500 criminal cases including almost 43,000 felonies. There were an additional 36,827 civil cases filed the same year, which can be accessed via Wisconsin court case lookup.

Appellate courts

There is both an intermediate court of appeals and a supreme court in Wisconsin. The intermediate court of appeals takes all appeals of disputed decisions from lower courts, while the supreme court hears selected appeals and those from state agencies. The supreme court also oversees the state judiciary.

Federal court

There is at least one U.S. District Court in each state that has jurisdiction over violations of federal laws, takes bankruptcy petitions, and handles lawsuits involving multiple states. Wisconsin court records online may be accessed by performing Wisconsin court record lookup.

Wisconsin Notable Court Cases

In 1854, the Booth case has become known for the Wisconsin Supreme Court's move to defy federal statute and fail to require the return of runaway slaves. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the decision, though the Wisconsin Supreme Court never filed the mandates handed to them from the federal court.

In 1926, Wait v. Pierce marked an important milestone for the fight for women's rights in the state. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that women had the right to sue their husbands.

In Risser v. Klauser (1997), the Supreme Court exercised original jurisdiction and defined the veto power of the governor and separation of powers of the executive and legislative branches of the government.

In State v. Mitchell (1992), the high court found a state law unconstitutional that enhanced criminal penalties when the victim was selected based on race or sexual orientation. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed this decision.

In State v. Yoder (1971), the Supreme Court determined that a state law that required children to attend school on a full-time basis violated the Amish's right to freedom to practice their religion. This case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed the original decision.