The Wisconsin Statutes are a compilation of the general laws of the state of Wisconsin currently in effect that have been given statute section numbers by legislation or supreme court order. The statutes on this web site are regularly updated to include legislation adopted during each legislative session. The Wisconsin Statutes are printed every two years.

The Wisconsin Annotations consist of section histories, cross-references, interpretative notes, and notes relating to court decisions, attorney general’s opinions, and published articles that are published following the affected statute.

You can search the entire Statutes from anywhere in any statutes chapter or from the statutes table of contents by typing a word or phrase in the box to the left of the Search button, then clicking Search. You can also go directly to a specific statute or part of a statute by typing the statute number in the search box to the left of the search button, then clicking Search. Any statutory unit can be located by typing the correct citation as follows. Parentheses and periods are not required. If parentheses are included, spaces are not required. If the citation is placed in quotation marks, the desired statute should always be the first “hit” in the returned list. If quotation marks are not used, the exact cite may not be the first in the list in every case, but will be near the top. For example, a search for 16.61 2 b 2 returns with s. 16.61 (2) (b) (intro.) first and s. 16.61 (2) (b) 2. second.

(Further explanation of the statutory numbering system is below.)

You can also locate statutes by searching the Statutes Index or a Subject Heading within the Index. To search the Index in its entirety for a word or phrase, type the word or phrase in the box to the left of the “Search” button, then click “Search.” Material in the Index is organized under Subject Headings. To go to a Subject Heading, type the Subject Heading name in the box to the left of the “Search” button, then click “Search.” For a list of the Subject Headings, see the Table of Subject Headings. The Subject Headings with the Index can be accessed by linking directly from the Table of Subject Headings.

Statutes can also be located by browsing or searching the Statutes Table of Contents and the individual statute chapter tables of contents. Statute chapters are listed numerically, followed by their titles, which are a general description of the chapter’s subject matter. Each statute chapter begins with a numerical table of contents listing the descriptive titles for each statute section in the chapter.