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.

The Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations on this web site are published under s. 35.18 (1) (b), stats., are certified under s. 35.18 (2) (b), stats., and are prima facie evidence that they are the Wisconsin Statutes “as they purport to be” under s. 889.01, stats.

The statues on this web site are regularly updated and contain all general statutes in force as the act number and publication date shown on the Statutes Table of Contents. The annotations on this web site are updated and current as indicated in the Coverage of Annotations table that can be linked to from the Statutes Table of Contents.

There are two different formats available for viewing, HTML and PDF. For more details, see Differences Between HTML and PDF Viewing.

Certain tables and maps that are a part of the printed Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations are only included in the PDF format statutes and not included in the HTML format statutes reproduced on this website. The schedules of appropriations contained in s. 20.005, Wis. Stats., are recreated by the legislature in each biennial budget act and are updated at the end of each legislative session for publication in the printed Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations. Chapter 20, Wis. Stats., as published in the PDF Format version of the statutes on this web site contains the table as adopted in the most recent biennial budget or as updated and published in the most recent edition of the Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations and does not reflect interim amendments. The HTML format statutes do not contain the s. 20.005 schedules.

This web site also contains all of the Acts of the Wisconsin Legislature adopted during the current legislative session, an archive containing non-current editions of the statutes and legislative acts adopted in previous legislative sessions, along with other archived materials, and several Statutes-related documents including the Statutes Index, Table of Statute Sections Affected by Wisconsin Acts, Table of Renumbered and Repealed Statutes, and Table of Cross-References in the Statutes. See also: About the statutes index, About the sections affected tables, About repealed and renumbered statutes, and About cross references in the statutes

This web site contains links from annotations to cited court cases. 1995 and newer Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions are linked to on the Wisconsin Court System site and all cited appellate court cases contain links to court cases through Google Scholar. Click on the docket number following the case citation to open a link to the case in PDF format on the Wisconsin Court System website. Click on the case citations to search for that case in Google Scholar. For more on annotations, see Annotations below.

The Wisconsin Statutes consist of the Statutes of 1898, as affected by all subsequent acts of the legislature and certain orders of the supreme court. Joint Legislative Rule 53 (1) provides that when an act, or part of an act, creates a statute section number, there is a legislative intent to make the section a part of the Wisconsin Statutes, and that provision is published as a statute in the Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations. Conversely, if an act treats a provision that does not have a statute section number, the provision is not published in the Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations, even though it is a general law. The omission of a general law from the Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations has no effect upon its validity.

Section 35.18 (4), stats., directs the LRB to prepare annotations to keep the volume known as Wisconsin Annotations, last published in 1970, up to date and to include those annotations in the published Wisconsin Statutes. The annotations consist of section histories, cross-references, interpretative notes, and notes relating to court decisions, attorney general opinions, and published articles related to the statute section with which the annotation is published. The annotations are a compilation, beginning with those published in the Wisconsin Statutes 1971-72, that has been edited regularly to maintain currency and relevance. Not every statute section has an annotation. For annotations created prior to 1971, consult the volumes entitled Wisconsin Annotations, available at http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/1971/statutes/annotations.