Wisconsin Court Records

Accessing Wisconsin Court Records

The US state of Wisconsin has an extended court system which consists of a four strata structure. The lowermost strata comprises of Municipal courts, which deals with minor violations of law. The next strata comprises of the Circuit courts which have original jurisdiction in the civil and criminal cases of the state including the Municipal court cases. The third layer consists of the Courts of Appeals that listen to appeals coming from the Circuit courts. Finally at the topmost layer of Wisconsin's court system is the Supreme Court. This is where people come as a last resort; the Supreme Court hears only certain cases. There are about 254 Municipal courts, 74 Circuit courts and the Courts of Appeals are present in four districts.

The primary job of the court is to hear out cases and pass a judgment so as to preserve law and order in the state or country. However, they are also responsible for maintaining records of all cases that are heard in the Wisconsin courts.

The public has access to these records; this is protected by the Right to Information Act. These court records are official documents that have historic significance. From these records, you can get a lot of information, and such information may be needed in various situations.

Accessing Wisconsin Court Records

You can access Wisconsin court records is any one of the following ways:

• You can approach the Clerk of the courthouse in person and request for the record that you need. You need to file an application with the court stating your purpose for wanting to access the record, and you must also state your relationship with the person concerned.
• You may make a request for the court record over the telephone. For this, you need to find the phone number of the concerned court.
• You may visit the public library to get hold of the court record.
• You may also search for court records on the Internet. There are several private and government websites which can help you here.

The Information You Can Get In the Court Record

Court records are public records, and these are accessible to the applicant, with some limitations. In the record, you can find information on birth, marriage, divorce, death, and you can also access criminal records, financial records, police records, and records of driving offences.

These records are important for several reasons. With this, you can carry out a background check. You can learn about the verdict that was passed in a particular case. Court records are often studied by law students, as well. It is from these records that they get to learn more about the judicial system, as well as the legal procedures in Wisconsin.

Marriage and divorce records also form a part of court records. Marriage records enable us to find out whether a person is married or not. It also reveals the place and date of the wedding and the spouse’s name. Divorce records, on the other hand, help us ensure that the person is legally divorced and can marry again.

Hence, court records are very important. In Wisconsin, there is a system in place that ensures efficient storage and retrieval.