Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 304.078 (2026)
Restoration of civil rights of convicted persons
✓ current as of July 2026
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304.078(2)(2) Except as provided in sub. (3), every person who is convicted of a crime obtains a restoration of his or her civil rights by serving out his or her term of imprisonment or otherwise satisfying his or her sentence. The certificate of the department or other responsible supervising agency that a convicted person has served his or her sentence or otherwise satisfied the judgment against him or her is evidence of that fact and that the person is restored to his or her civil rights. The department or other agency shall list in the person’s certificate rights which have been restored and which have not been restored. Persons who served out their terms of imprisonment or otherwise satisfied their sentences prior to August 14, 1947, are likewise restored to their civil rights from and after September 25, 1959.
304.078(3)(3) If a person is disqualified from voting under s. 6.03 (1) (b), his or her right to vote is restored when he or she completes the term of imprisonment or probation for the crime that led to the disqualification. The department or, if the person is sentenced to a county jail or house of correction, the jailer shall inform the person in writing at the time his or her right to vote is restored under this subsection.
304.078 AnnotationA person convicted of a crime whose sentence has been satisfied may vote. 61 Atty. Gen. 260.
304.078 AnnotationA convicted felon whose civil rights have been restored pursuant to s. 57.078 [now this section] is barred from the office of notary public unless he or she has been pardoned. 63 Atty. Gen. 74.
304.078 AnnotationThe operation of this section on a prior conviction is irrelevant to a conviction for which a prior conviction is a predicate. Roehl v. United States, 977 F.2d 375 (1992).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1992–2024 · leading case: Moran v. Wis. Dep't of Just., 932 N.W.2d 430 (Wis. Ct. App. 2019).
Moran v. Wis. Dep't of Just., 932 N.W.2d 430 (Wis. Ct. App. 2019). “§ 304.078 does not identify which civil rights are restored upon the completion of a sentence, but Moran makes no argument that the rights restored include his right to possess a firearm.”
State v. Jadowski, 2004 WI 68 (Wis. 2004). “32 Wisconsin's rules of evidence define relevant evidence as "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.”
State v. Mendoza, 596 N.W.2d 736 (Wis. 1999). “Wis. Stat. § 304.078 . ¶ 27. We conclude that the circuit court erred when it granted the State's request to strike four prospective jurors for cause solely because they had been convicted of crimes.”
United States v. Lee A. Wilson, 437 F.3d 616 (7th Cir. 2006). “See Wis. Stat. § 304.078 (2) (2003-04), which provides that a discharge certificate shall be issued when a convicted person has satisfied his or her sentence and shall list "[civil] rights which have been restored and which have not been restored.”
State v. Ramel, 2007 WI App 271 (Wis. Ct. App. 2007). “See Wis. Stat. §§ 304.078 ; 6.03(l)(b). A trial court must consider the defendant's ability to pay the fine during the total sentence, that is, any term of probation, imprisonment and extended supervision.”
Scot Van Oudenhoven v. Wisconsin Dep't of Just., 2024 WI App 38 (Wis. Ct. App. 2024). “Any of those state procedures would become incomplete if they contained a prohibition on an individual from possessing or receiving a firearm under federal law. The “unless” clause does not alter the plain 17 For example, in Wisconsin, the restoration of civil rights following…”
David S. Dahler v. United States, 143 F.3d 1084 (7th Cir. 1998). “078 (recodified in 1990 as Wis. Stat. § 304.078 ). But under § 921(a)(20) a conviction does not count, for federal purposes, if a felon has “had civil rights restored” unless the restoration document “expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or.”
United States v. Frederick D. Wagner, 976 F.2d 354 (7th Cir. 1992). “Compare Wis.Stat. § 304.078 (1990). Nor does Indiana have a statute that expressly bars convicted felons from possessing firearms.”
State v. Leevan Roundtree, 2021 WI 1 (Wis. 2021). “Wis. Stat. § 304.078 (3). Similarly, convicted felons regain their right to serve as jurors after their civil rights have been restored.”
State v. Mendoza, 584 N.W.2d 174 (Wis. Ct. App. 1998). “03(l)(b), STATS, (persons convicted of treason, felony, or bribery cannot be electors unless their civil rights are restored); § 304.078, STATS. ("Every person who is convicted of a crime obtains a restoration of his or her civil rights by serving out his or her term of…”
State v. Leevan Roundtree, 2021 WI 1 (Wis. 2021). “Wis. Stat. § 304.078 (3). Similarly, convicted felons regain their right to serve as jurors after their civil rights have been restored.”
Smith v. United States Cong. (E.D. Wis. 2019). “Wis. Stat. §304.078 (3) says, “[i]f a person is disqualified from voting under s 6.”
— Wis. Stat. § 304.078(2) — 1 case
Moran v. Wis. Dep't of Just., 932 N.W.2d 430 (Wis. Ct. App. 2019). “§ 304.078 does not identify which civil rights are restored upon the completion of a sentence, but Moran makes no argument that the rights restored include his right to possess a firearm.”
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