Wisconsin Court Case Search — Find Your Lawsuit

Dena Standley | October 19, 2022

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Searching for your court case online is like ^^

Summary: Wisconsin offers a free tool for finding your court case online, making it easier for you to check your case status without leaving home. In this article we discuss how to find your case. If you've been sued for a debt, you can use SoloSuit to respond.

Citizens have the right to see and acquire copies of court records if they follow the Wisconsin open records law. You can access the information online if you are concerned that a debt collection lawsuit may have been filed against you.

Wisconsin's judicial system provides an online portal for finding your court case.

If you've been sued for a debt, it's crucial to keep tabs on your case. Frequently, collectors don't properly serve defendants with the case documents. So, finding your case online is helpful for reviewing the progress of your case.

Finding your case isn't always easy, so in this article we'll show you what you need to know about searching for your court case in Wisconsin.

But first, we'll discuss how Wisconsin's civil court system is structured.

Wisconsin's civil court structure

hawaii court structure

In order to find your case information online or in person, it's important to understand how the civil courts are structured in Wisconsin. When you know what courts have jurisdiction over certain types of cases, it will be easier for you to narrow down the court to which your case is assigned. Debt collection cases are considered civil cases, so we will focus on that particular case type in this section.

In Wisconsin, there are three levels of courts that deal with civil cases:

Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
Circuit Court

The Supreme Court is the highest level in Wisconsin's judicial branch. As an appellate court, the Supreme Court hears civil cases that have been appealed from the Court of Appeals.

Similarly, the Court of Appeals handles civil cases that have been appealed from the Circuit Courts. In other words, when someone disagrees with the outcome of a case, they can appeal it. At this point, the case is transferred to the next judicial level up.

Circuit Courts have jurisdiction over regular civil cases with no monetary limit and small claims cases that involve $10,000 or less. The circuit courts are divided into branches with at least one branch in every county. Debt collection cases always begin at the Circuit Court level.

Find your Wisconsin court records online

Once you've figured out where your case is located, it'll be easier for you to search your court case online.. In Wisconsin, the court clerks are the custodians of the court records. Many of these custodians keep records on paper and electronically.

Only certain Wisconsin Circuit Courts' public records are accessible under the WCCA. Adoptions, juvenile delinquency, child protection, termination of parental rights, guardianship, and civil obligations are all confidential documents not available on the WCCA.

Wisconsin has great tools for court case searches. Here they are:

If you're being sued for a debt in Wisconsin, you're going to use the WCCA tool to search for your case online. You will need to enter some or all of the following information to find your case:

Your full name
Your birth date
Business name (if you're being sued by a business)
County
Case number

This tool is very easy to navigate, and in most instances, you can find your case information by just typing in your name or the name of the person listed on the case.

Keep in mind that onle certain Wisconsin Circuit Courts' public records are accessible under the WCCA. Adoptions, juvenile delinquency, child protection, termination of parental rights, guardianship, and civil obligations are all confidential documents not available on the WCCA.

WCCA's case summaries provide helpful information about each case

The WCCA portal displays any notes or explanatory comments entered by the court clerk in criminal proceedings. Keep in mind that the WCCA's explanatory comments are not official transcripts or detailed descriptions of documents, hearings, court rulings, or other occurrences. Documents filed in court cases are not available on this website. However, the courthouse permits you to view scanned or electronic documents in person.

The WCCA portal displays case file information for the duration of the Clerk of Court's retention of the file. Civil and misdemeanor criminal cases are typically kept for 20 years. Except for Class A felony cases, which are kept for 75 years, felony criminal cases are kept for 50 years.

This rule includes small claims lawsuits dropped without a judgment against either party and criminal cases whose charges are dismissed or result in an acquittal. Cases of this nature are preserved on the WCCA portal for two years.

Check your Wisconsin court case status at the courthouse

Court records can be obtained by making in-person inquiries at the courthouse where the case is filed. Most courthouses in Wisconsin have public access terminals in the court clerks' offices where you can search your case if you don't have a computer at home. You can also request the help of a court clerk if you're having troubles. If you wish to print copies of court documents, there may be a fee associated with this service.

Use a Wisconsin court directory to find the address of your courthouse and the court clerk's phone number.

How do court case numbers work in Wisconsin?

Every court case is given a case number for organizational purposes. A case number is a one-of-a-kind number assigned to each court case. A case number is beneficial to record custodians because it can promptly monitor and locate requested data.

Debt collection cases are always considered civil or small claims cases in Wisconsin. Civil cases are always identified with the case type code CV, while small claims cases carry the case type code SC.

In Wisconsin, case numbers are assigned with the following format: filing year, case type, and chronological case number. For example, 2022CV000100 is the 100th civil case filed in 2022.

Check out this helpful resource to learn more about case type codes.

The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) and Wisconsin Supreme Court of Appeals Case Access (WSCCA) portals can be used to look up Wisconsin case numbers. Case numbers can be located in the search results using search alternatives to the case number option, such as a case party name, attorney number, or business name.

Respond to a lawsuit with SoloSuit

If you've been sued for a debt you owe, SoloSuit can help you respond in minutes. The first step to winning your debt collection lawsuit in Wisconsin is to respond to the case with a written Answer. In Wisconsin, you have 20 days to respond before you lose by default. When you lose by default, the debt collector can garnish your wages or put liens on your property.

To learn more about how to Answer a debt lawsuit, check out this video:

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

Get Started

We have answers.
Join our community of over 40,000 people.

You can ask your questions on the SoloSuit forum and the community will help you out. Whether you need help now or are just looking for support, we're here for you.

Ask a Question

>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate