Wisconsin People Search

Wisconsin is one of the easier states for finding a person through public records, because its courts put most cases online free and its public records law has no residency requirement and few exemptions. The place to start is Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the statewide case search everyone in the state calls CCAP, which shows civil, criminal, family, small claims and traffic cases from all 72 counties by name, with the party's address at filing, the charges and the outcome. After that come the Department of Corrections offender locator, the Department of Justice criminal history search, the county register of deeds and treasurer for property, the Department of Financial Institutions for businesses, and the Wisconsin Historical Society for anything older than living memory.

What Wisconsin does not offer is a government people search. Driver records go only to the driver and to authorized users, voter registration can be checked only for yourself, and vital records are restricted, so a search runs through the records a person leaves behind in the courts, the property books and the business filings.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access covers the circuit courts of all 72 counties and shows the party names, the case type, the filing date, the charges, the attorneys, the court activity and the judgment, and a search by last name across the state takes seconds. The Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have their own case search. The Department of Corrections locator shows anyone in a state prison or on probation, parole or extended supervision, with the offense and the release date, and the sex offender registry is searched by name or address. The Department of Justice sells a name based criminal history check to anyone through its online record check system, with results returned online.

• Wisconsin Circuit Court AccessFree statewide case search for all 72 circuit courts by name or case number
• Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals case accessAppellate case search
• Wisconsin DOC offender locatorPrison inmates and people on supervision, with offense and release date
• Wisconsin sex offender registryRegistry search by name, address or map
• Wisconsin DOJ online record checkName based criminal history check open to the public for a fee
• Wisconsin Criminal RecordsWhat Wisconsin criminal history is public and how to get it
• Wisconsin Inmate SearchState prisons and county jails

Every Wisconsin county's register of deeds indexes deeds, mortgages and liens by name, and most counties put the index online through their own site or a shared land records portal, with document images for recent years. The county treasurer and the local assessor publish the tax roll and the assessment with the owner's name, and the larger counties have a parcel map that searches by address. The Department of Financial Institutions' corporate records search shows the registered corporations and limited liability companies with the registered agent and principal office, and the Department of Safety and Professional Services' license lookup shows the licensed professionals it regulates, from nurses to plumbers, with discipline history.

• Wisconsin DFI corporate records searchCorporations and LLCs with registered agent and status
• Wisconsin DSPS license lookupProfessional and trade licenses with discipline history
• Wisconsin Department of RevenueProperty assessment guidance and the unclaimed property search
• Wisconsin County Public RecordsRegister of deeds, treasurer and clerk links for all 72 counties
• Wisconsin Judgments and LiensCourt judgments and liens by county

Wisconsin vital records are held by the state Vital Records Office in the Department of Health Services and by each county register of deeds. Certified copies of birth records go only to the person, their family and others with a direct interest, while uncertified copies of death, marriage and divorce records can be ordered by anyone. Records before October 1907 are indexed free by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Voter registration is checked through MyVote Wisconsin for your own record only, and the full voter list is sold by the Wisconsin Elections Commission for a fee. Driver and vehicle records are released by the Department of Transportation only to the driver and to authorized users under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act.

• Wisconsin Vital Records OfficeBirth, death, marriage and divorce records and who can order them
• Wisconsin Historical Society genealogy indexPre 1907 vital records index and other genealogy records
• MyVote WisconsinCheck your own registration and polling place
• Wisconsin Elections CommissionVoter list purchases and election records
• Wisconsin DMV RecordsDriver and vehicle record rules
• Wisconsin Genealogy SearchArchives, censuses and family history records

Milwaukee County is the state's most populous county, and its register of deeds, clerk of courts and treasurer are all online, with the City of Milwaukee's assessor and property search by address. Dane County, home to Madison, Waukesha, Brown, Racine, Outagamie, Winnebago, Kenosha, Rock and Marathon counties follow with their own portals, and the county sheriffs post jail rosters. The county page on this site lists the offices for all 72 counties, and the newspaper page lists the daily and weekly papers that carry obituaries and legal notices.

• Milwaukee CountyRegister of deeds, clerk of courts, treasurer and the county jail
• City of MilwaukeeAssessor property search, permits and police records
• Dane CountyMadison area records offices
• Waukesha CountyRecords offices for the western suburbs
• Brown CountyGreen Bay area records offices
• Wisconsin County Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices and jail rosters for all 72 counties
• Wisconsin Police DepartmentsCity police departments and records units
• Wisconsin NewspapersObituaries and legal notices by county

Search Circuit Court Access by last name and a first initial, then narrow by county and birth year, because common names return hundreds of cases across the state. The party address on a case is the address at filing, which dates the person to a place and time. Traffic cases are the most common entry and often the freshest address. A person on supervision appears in the Department of Corrections locator with a supervising office, which places them in a region. Property searches work best by name in the register of deeds index, since an assessor search needs an address. For older people and for people who have died, the Historical Society index, the newspaper obituaries and the Find a Grave listings usually reach further back than the state databases.

The courts remove some non conviction records from the public site after a set period, and cases can be expunged or sealed by court order, so an empty result in Circuit Court Access does not prove a person has no history. The Department of Justice record check reports what the courts have removed from public view only where the law allows.

• Wisconsin Public RecordsThe state hub with every agency and record type
• Wisconsin Bankruptcy SearchThe Eastern and Western districts of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin ExpungementsExpungement and sealing rules in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's Public Records Law, in sections 19.31 to 19.39 of the statutes, presumes every government record open, allows anyone to request it without giving a reason or proving residency, and requires a response as soon as practicable, with the record custodian required to justify any denial in writing. Fees are limited to the actual cost of copying, and a location fee can be charged only when the cost of finding the record reaches 50 dollars, with no charge for review or redaction in most cases. Court records are governed by the Supreme Court's rules rather than the statute, and the courts decide what appears on Circuit Court Access. Personal information that is closed includes Social Security numbers, driver records under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act, certified birth records, juvenile court records, and the identities of victims of certain crimes. Commercial people search sites that compile Wisconsin records are covered by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act when the report is used for employment or housing, and most offer an opt out.

• Wisconsin Department of Justice public recordsThe Office of Open Government, the compliance guide and how to appeal a denial
• Wisconsin Court SystemCourt rules, forms and the policy on what Circuit Court Access shows
• People Search DirectoryPeople search guides for every state