Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (2026)
County offices and officers
✓ current as of July 2026
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59.20(1)(1) Eligibility for county office. No person may file nomination papers as a candidate for, have his or her name placed on a ballot for election to, or hold a county elective office who is not an elector of the county. No person may file nomination papers as a candidate for, have his or her name placed on a ballot for election to, or hold the office of county supervisor who is not an elector of the supervisory district from which he or she is chosen.
59.20(2)(a)(a) Beginning in 2008 and quadrennially thereafter, a register of deeds, county clerk, and county treasurer shall be chosen at the general election by the electors of each county for the term of 4 years. Except as provided in this paragraph, beginning in 2008 and quadrennially thereafter, a surveyor shall be chosen at the general election by the electors of each county in which the office of surveyor is filled by election, for the term of 4 years. No surveyor shall be elected in counties having a population of 750,000 or more. The regular term of office of each register of deeds, county clerk, county treasurer, and county surveyor shall commence on the first Monday of January next succeeding his or her election and shall continue 4 years and until his or her successor qualifies.
59.20(2)(am)(am) Beginning in 2012 and quadrennially thereafter, a comptroller shall be chosen at the spring election by the electors of each county having a population of 750,000 or more for the term of 4 years. The regular term of office of each comptroller shall commence on the 3rd Tuesday in April next succeeding his or her election and shall continue 4 years and until his or her successor qualifies.
59.20(2)(b)(b) Beginning in 2006 and quadrennially thereafter, a sheriff shall be chosen at the general election by the electors of each county for the term of 4 years. Except as provided in this paragraph, beginning in 2006 and quadrennially thereafter, a coroner shall be chosen at the general election by the electors of each county in which there is a coroner, for the term of 4 years. No coroner shall be elected in counties having a population of 750,000 or more or in counties in which a medical examiner system is instituted. The regular term of office of each sheriff and coroner shall commence on the first Monday in January next succeeding his or her election and shall continue 4 years and until his or her successor qualifies.
59.20(2)(bm)(bm) Beginning in 2006 and quadrennially thereafter, a clerk of circuit court shall be chosen at the general election for the term of 4 years by the electors of each county, subject to removal as provided by law. The regular term of office of each clerk of circuit court shall commence on the first Monday of January next succeeding his or her election and shall continue 4 years and until his or her successor qualifies.
59.20(2)(c)(c) In counties that elect a surveyor, the surveyor shall be a professional land surveyor. In lieu of electing a surveyor in any county having a population of less than 750,000, the board may, by resolution, designate that the duties under ss. 59.45 (1) and 59.74 (2) be performed by any professional land surveyor employed by the county. Any surveyor employed by a county having a population of 750,000 or more shall be a professional land surveyor.
59.20(2)(d)(d) Except as provided in par. (b), in any county containing one town only, the county board may, by resolution, designate any county office a part-time position, combine 2 or more county offices, and, if concurred in by the town board, combine the offices of county clerk and town clerk and any other county and town offices, provided that the offices combined are not incompatible and the combination is not expressly forbidden by law. If the town board so concurs, the election may be for the combined office and no separate election for the town office shall be held until after the county board has by resolution decided to abandon the combination and the town board has concurred by resolution.
59.20(3)(a)(a) Every sheriff, clerk of the circuit court, register of deeds, treasurer, comptroller, register of probate, clerk, and county surveyor shall keep his or her office at the county seat in the offices provided by the county or by special provision of law; or if there is none, then at such place as the board directs. The board may also require any elective or appointive county official to keep his or her office at the county seat in an office to be provided by the county. All such officers shall keep their offices open during the usual business hours of any day except Sunday, as the board directs. With proper care, the officers shall open to the examination of any person all books and papers required to be kept in his or her office and permit any person so examining to take notes and copies of such books, records, papers, or minutes therefrom except as authorized in par. (c) and ss. 19.36 (10) and (11) and 19.59 (3) (d) or under ch. 69 and except as authorized in s. 19.36 (8) to the extent the books, records, papers, or minutes contain information that would identify an informant as such.
59.20(3)(b)(b) If any officer described in par. (a) neglects or refuses to comply with any of the provisions of this subsection, the officer shall forfeit $5 for each day that the noncompliance continues. Actions for the collection of a forfeiture under this paragraph may be brought upon the complaint of the district attorney of the proper county or of any party aggrieved by the officer’s refusal or neglect.
59.20(3)(c)(c) Any board may, by ordinance, provide that the cutoff reception time for the filing and recording of documents shall be advanced by one hour in any official business day during which time the register of deeds office is open to the public, in order to complete the processing, recording, and indexing to conform to the day of reception. Any register of deeds may provide in his or her notice under s. 19.34 (1) that requests for inspection or copying of the records of his or her office may be made only during a specified period of not less than 35 hours per week. For all other purposes, the register of deeds office shall remain open to the public during usual business hours.
59.20(3)(d)(d) Any register of deeds who in good faith makes an erroneous determination as to the accessibility of a portion of a record, to members of the public under s. 19.36 (6), is not subject to any penalty for denial of access to the record under s. 19.37 (4).
59.20 HistoryHistory: 1995 a. 201 ss. 248, 249, 251, 268; 1995 a. 225 s. 145; 1997 a. 35; 2003 a. 47, 321, 322; 2005 a. 41; 2007 a. 158; 2011 a. 62; 2013 a. 358; 2017 a. 59; 2017 a. 207 s. 5; 2023 a. 223.
59.20 NoteNOTE: 2003 Wis. Act 47, which affected this section, contains extensive explanatory notes.
59.20 AnnotationSection 59.14 [now sub. (3)] is a legislative declaration granting persons who come under its coverage an absolute right of inspection subject only to reasonable administrative regulations. State ex rel. Bilder v. Township of Delavan, 112 Wis. 2d 539, 334 N.W.2d 252 (1983).
59.20 AnnotationA newspaper had the right to intervene to protect its right to examine sealed court files. State ex rel. Bilder v. Township of Delavan, 112 Wis. 2d 539, 334 N.W.2d 252 (1983).
59.20 AnnotationCourts must apply the open records balancing test to questions involving disclosure of court records. Under the test, the party seeking nondisclosure must show that public interests favoring secrecy outweigh those favoring disclosure. C.L. v. Edson, 140 Wis. 2d 168, 409 N.W.2d 417 (Ct. App. 1987).
59.20 AnnotationThe appointment of a county surveyor under this section is constitutional. Ripley v. Brown, 143 Wis. 2d 686, 422 N.W.2d 608 (1988).
59.20 Annotation“Books and papers required to be kept” are not all those that the custodian is obliged merely to retain or preserve; rather they are only those that the custodian is obliged to maintain or engender. The requester has the burden of showing the authority requiring that the record be maintained or engendered. State ex rel. Schultz v. Bruendl, 168 Wis. 2d 101, 483 N.W.2d 238 (Ct. App. 1992).
59.20 AnnotationTo overcome the legislatively mandated policy favoring open records and to persuade the circuit court to exercise its inherent authority, the party seeking to close court records bears the burden of demonstrating, with particularity, that the administration of justice requires that the records be closed. Once documents are filed in the court, they become a judicial record subject to the access accorded such records. Even the possibility that the parties may attempt to rescind a settlement agreement if the record is unsealed does not outweigh the public’s right to inspect public documents. There are no requirements of a showing of harm to the public or that the inquiry must have indicia of public concern. Krier v. EOG Environmental, Inc., 2005 WI App 256, 288 Wis. 2d 623, 707 N.W.2d 915, 04-2670.
59.20 AnnotationNotwithstanding sub. (3) (a), when the administration of justice requires it, a court may employ its inherent power under the constitution to preserve and protect the exercise of its judicial function of presiding over the conduct of judicial proceedings, which is not limited to public records requests. The inherent authority of courts also reaches other interests implicated by the openness of judicial proceedings, including the potential for threats and harassment of litigants. In this case, the circuit court did not erroneously exercise its discretion by requiring disclosure of the plaintiff parents’ identities to opposing attorneys, while allowing the parents to keep their names sealed and confidential as to the public and the defendant school district. Doe v. Madison Metropolitan School District, 2022 WI 65, 403 Wis. 2d 369, 976 N.W.2d 584, 20-1032.
59.20 AnnotationAfter the transcript of court proceedings is filed with the clerk of court, any person may examine or copy the transcript. 68 Atty. Gen. 313.
59.20 AnnotationA sheriff’s criminal investigation files are not covered by a blanket exemption from the public records law. Denial of access may be justified on a case-by-case basis. 77 Atty. Gen. 42.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1997–2024 · leading case: John Doe 1 v. Madison Metro Sch. Dist., 2022 WI 65 (Wis. 2022).
John Doe 1 v. Madison Metro Sch. Dist., 2022 WI 65 (Wis. 2022). “¶14 In Bilder, we identified three exceptions to the right codified in Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a). First, documents may be closed to the public when another statute so requires or authorizes.”
State v. Stanley, 2012 WI App 42 (Wis. Ct. App. 2012). “The parties have not addressed the question of whether a court record that contains information sought by the Tribune, but created after the Tribune's last records request, must be considered an open court record under Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a). However, for the reasons…”
Krier v. EOG Env't, Inc., 2005 WI App 256 (Wis. Ct. App. 2005). “Krier claims the trial court erred in continuing its order of nondisclosure of the record because the record does not present reasons sufficient to constitute an exception to the public policy of access to public records set forth in Wis.”
State Ex Rel. Off. of the State Pub. Def. v. Court of Appeals, 2013 WI 31 (Wis. 2013). “See Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3) (Every "clerk of the circuit court .”
Nankin v. Vill. of Shorewood, 2001 WI 92 (Wis. 2001). “Under § 59.20, residents of a less populous county elect a county coroner and county surveyor, but residents of a county with a population greater than 500,000 do not.”
N. Air Servs., Inc. v. Link, 2011 WI 75 (Wis. 2011). “" For example, Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a) provides in pertinent part: Every .”
Granado v. Sentry Ins., 599 N.W.2d 62 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999). “shall keep his or her office at the county seat in the offices provided by the county or by special provision of law; or if there is none, then at such place as the board directs. . . . All such officers shall keep their offices open during the usual business hours of any day…”
James Hulbert v. Richard Wilhelm, 120 F.3d 648 (7th Cir. 1997). “) Similarly, if a private citizen investigating the County’s financial records (which are open to public inspection under Wisconsin law, see Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)) had come across questionable billing practices on the part of the county surveyor, that citizen could certainly…”
TJ Auto LLC v. Mr. Twist Holdings LLC, 2014 WI App 81 (Wis. Ct. App. 2014). “Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (2)(a), (c) (providing that there shall be no elected surveyor for counties with *526 populations over 500,000 and that smaller counties may at their option have a contracted rather than elected surveyor).”
Hartford Citizens v. City of Hartford Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 2008 WI App 107 (Wis. Ct. App. 2008). “However, the legislature has imposed some limitations under Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a) which requires that "[a]ll such officers shall keep their offices open during the usual business hours of any day except Sunday, as the board directs.”
Aleman v. Milwaukee Cnty., 35 F. Supp. 2d 710 (E.D. Wis. 1999). “” Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a). County boards control sheriffs’ salaries.”
Lipscomb v. Abele, 918 N.W.2d 434 (Wis. Ct. App. 2018). “§ 59.20(2)(c), register of deeds, WIS. STAT.”
— Wis. Stat. § 59.20(2)(c) — 1 case
Lipscomb v. Abele, 918 N.W.2d 434 (Wis. Ct. App. 2018). “§ 59.20(2)(c), register of deeds, WIS. STAT.”
— Wis. Stat. § 59.20(3) — 3 cases
Hartford Citizens v. City of Hartford Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 2008 WI App 107 (Wis. Ct. App. 2008). “However, the legislature has imposed some limitations under Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a) which requires that "[a]ll such officers shall keep their offices open during the usual business hours of any day except Sunday, as the board directs.”
Lipscomb v. Abele, 918 N.W.2d 434 (Wis. Ct. App. 2018). “§ 59.20(2)(c), register of deeds, WIS. STAT.”
John Doe 1 v. Madison Metro Sch. Dist., 2021 WI App 60 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).
— Wis. Stat. § 59.20(3)(a) — 4 cases
Granado v. Sentry Ins., 599 N.W.2d 62 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999). “shall keep his or her office at the county seat in the offices provided by the county or by special provision of law; or if there is none, then at such place as the board directs. . . . All such officers shall keep their offices open during the usual business hours of any day…”
John Doe 1 v. Madison Metro Sch. Dist., 2022 WI 65 (Wis. 2022). “¶14 In Bilder, we identified three exceptions to the right codified in Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a). First, documents may be closed to the public when another statute so requires or authorizes.”
State v. Stanley, 2012 WI App 42 (Wis. Ct. App. 2012). “The parties have not addressed the question of whether a court record that contains information sought by the Tribune, but created after the Tribune's last records request, must be considered an open court record under Wis. Stat. § 59.20 (3)(a). However, for the reasons…”
Robert Cronwell v. City of Glendale (Wis. Ct. App. 2024).
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