The Wisconsin Court Access is an online circuit court system created in 1999, to access cases filed in Wisconsin Circuit Courts. The Wisconsin Court Access allows the general public, court officials, the media, attorneys, and law enforcement to access court records in a unified and consolidated system.
Case information is uploaded to the system regularly with the exception of scheduled periodic maintenance to the system. The information that is available in the system is a digital copy of the records found in the county courts. The county courts for each county are the recordkeepers for the cases filed in that county, yet the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Committee is responsible for maintaining the online search portal.
Using Wisconsin Court Access
If you wish to use the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access online search portal, you would need to go to the WCCA website. Once you have accessed the WCCA website, you will need to agree to the terms and conditions found on the website to proceed with a search.
When using the online search portal you can search for cases by name, case number, and/or citation number. You can also perform advanced searches to narrow down your search results. This allows you to enter the following additional information:
- The date the court case was filed.
- The case status
- The case disposition date
- Date of birth
- Attorney name
- Business name
- Offense date
You also have the option to perform a statewide or countywide search. It is recommended to search statewide if you are unsure of what county the case was filed in. After 2 years, if certain types of cases were dismissed, the information is removed from the online search portal. However, the information would still be available in the county clerk’s office where the case was filed. To access dismissed court cases after 2 years, you would need to contact the county clerk’s office where the case was filed.
Questions About WCCA
If you have questions about court cases that you access on the Wisconsin Court Access online search portal, you would need to contact the county clerk’s office. If the question is a technical question regarding the WCCA website, you can send a message through the contact us link found on the WCCA website.
There is a set of FAQs found on the website that can answer general questions that you may have. This includes understanding the abbreviations used on the court documents, how to perform a search, what types of cases you have access to, and what information you will find on the Wisconsin Court Access online search portal.
In general, you can access criminal, traffic, civil, family, and probate cases in compliance with the Wisconsin open records law. This law states that circuit court records are made available for inspection by the general public.
If changes are made to the portal, the WCCA committee will inform the public of these changes by placing a notice on the website. The most recent changes made to the site were made in 2018. These are made to the site are to make the site more user-friendly for the public.