State Resources
Wisconsin
CCAP is the best-known state court site in the country and it’s free, statewide and deep. It also shows dismissals and pending charges, which is why Wisconsin law puts limits on what employers may do with it. Know both halves.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Department of Financial Institutions | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Department of Financial Institutions — UCC | Free to search | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Department of Safety and Professional Services | Free | Yes |
| Property and land records | County register of deeds and municipal assessor | Free online in most counties | By county |
| Court records | Wisconsin Court System — CCAP | Free | Yes |
| Criminal records | Department of Justice — Wisconsin Online Record Check | Fee per name | Yes |
| Vital records | Department of Health Services, Vital Records | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | Department of Revenue | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | Wisconsin Elections Commission — MyVote | Free to look up; bulk data carries a fee | Yes |
Worth knowing about Wisconsin
CCAP shows what other states hide, and that cuts both ways
Wisconsin Circuit Court Access — everyone calls it CCAP — is free, covers every county, and goes back further than most state portals. Criminal, civil, family, probate, traffic and small claims, all in one search.
It also displays charges that were dismissed and cases still pending, not just convictions. That’s unusually open, and it’s the reason CCAP is controversial inside Wisconsin: landlords and employers use it as a rough background check and read a dismissal as a conviction.
Two practical consequences. First, you get more than a repository check would give you — charges that went nowhere still tell you something about a person’s circumstances at a point in time. Second, read the disposition line every single time. A CCAP hit isn’t a criminal record. Writing one into a report as though it is will eventually cost you.
Wisconsin’s fair employment law also restricts using an arrest record against somebody in employment decisions. If your work touches hiring, that’s a line worth knowing before you hand anything over.
The business and UCC searches live at DFI, not the Secretary of State
This costs people ten minutes every time. In most states you go to the Secretary of State. In Wisconsin, corporate records and UCC filings are both at the Department of Financial Institutions.
The corporate records search is free and open. The UCC lien search is also free, though the newer filing system wants a free account for some functions — the basic search is reachable without logging in.
Search the secured party side as well as the debtor. Running a lender backwards returns every Wisconsin business it has financed, which is a fast way to map who banks where.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open corporate search →- Held by
- Department of Financial Institutions
- Cost
- Free to search
Free search of Wisconsin corporations, LLCs and partnerships by name, returning status, registered agent, principal office and filing history.
The advanced search will run partial names, which matters when you only have a fragment of a trading name. Annual reports are required, so a business in good standing has current information.
UCC filings
Open UCC lien search →- Held by
- Department of Financial Institutions — UCC
- Cost
- Free to search
Free lien search by debtor or secured party. A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral — and the secured party is usually a bank.
The newer filing system asks for a free account for some functions. The basic search runs without one.
Professional licenses
Open license lookup →- Held by
- Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Cost
- Free
A single statewide lookup covering most Wisconsin credentials, from health professions to the trades. Returns legal name, credential status, dates and disciplinary history.
Property and land records
- Held by
- County register of deeds and municipal assessor
- Cost
- Free online in most counties
No statewide property search. The county register of deeds holds the recorded documents; assessment is done at municipal level, which is a Wisconsin quirk — the town, village or city assesses, not the county.
Most counties publish a free land records portal that ties the two together. Search for the county name plus “land records” rather than looking for a state index.
Court records
Open CCAP →- Held by
- Wisconsin Court System — CCAP
- Cost
- Free
Every circuit court in the state, free, no account. Search by name statewide or filter to a county, with date-of-birth filtering to separate common names.
Case detail includes the charges, every hearing, the disposition and the financial obligations ordered. The court record summary is worth opening rather than reading the index line.
Criminal records
Open record check →- Held by
- Department of Justice — Wisconsin Online Record Check
- Cost
- Fee per name
The DOJ criminal history check is a repository search, separate from CCAP, and it returns what law enforcement reported to the state.
Use both. CCAP gives you the case detail and disposition; the DOJ check catches arrests that were reported to the repository. Neither is complete on its own, and neither covers other states.
Vital records
Open vital records →- Held by
- Department of Health Services, Vital Records
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births, deaths, marriages and divorces from the state office, with county registers of deeds also able to issue for local events.
Wisconsin restricts certified copies to people with a direct and tangible interest.
Unclaimed property
Open unclaimed property →- Held by
- Department of Revenue
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. Note that Wisconsin moved unclaimed property from the Treasurer to the Department of Revenue, so older guides send you to the wrong agency.
The holder name on a reported item is the useful part — the bank, insurer or employer that had the money is a confirmed relationship.
Voter and resident records
Open MyVote →- Held by
- Wisconsin Elections Commission — MyVote
- Cost
- Free to look up; bulk data carries a fee
Individual registration lookup confirming status and municipality. Wisconsin charges for the bulk voter file and restricts its use, so this is a one-subject tool.
Public records requests in Wisconsin
- Statute
- Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31–19.39 (Public Records Law)
- Response deadline
- As soon as practicable and without delay
- Appeal to
- District attorney or Attorney General, or a mandamus action
- Appeal window
- No fixed deadline
Wisconsin’s law opens with an unusually strong statement of policy — the presumption is complete public access, and any exception is to be construed narrowly. Courts here take that language seriously.
There’s no numeric deadline. The standard is “as soon as practicable and without delay,” which is softer than a fixed number but has real teeth in litigation.
If you’re refused you can ask the district attorney or the Attorney General to bring an action, or file for mandamus yourself. A requester who prevails can recover costs and reasonable attorney fees, which is what makes these cases viable to bring.
A denial must be in writing with reasons. An agency that refuses without explaining why has already made a mistake worth pointing out.
What Wisconsin will not give you
- Juvenile records. Not public.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Some older or dismissed cases. Wisconsin removes certain case types from CCAP after a period, and dismissed charges can be removed in some circumstances.
- Expunged records. Wisconsin expungement is narrower than most states and must be ordered at sentencing, so it removes less than people expect.
- The bulk voter file. Available for a fee, with restrictions on use.
Related
- Minnesota — free public criminal history next door
- Ohio — 88 county portals and no statewide search
- Reading a civil docket
- UCC filings name the lender
- What investigators can find out about you
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.