Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2026)
Validation of highways
✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
82.31(1)(1) Recorded highways. Any recorded highway that has been laid out under this chapter is a legal highway only to the extent that it has been opened and worked for 3 years. Any laid out highway that has not been fully and sufficiently described or recorded or for which the records have been lost or destroyed is presumed to be 66 feet wide.
82.31(2)(a)(a) Except as provided in pars. (b) and (c), any unrecorded highway that has been worked as a public highway for 10 years or more is a public highway and is presumed to be 66 feet wide.
82.31(2)(b)(b) No road or bridge built upon the bottoms and sloughs of the Mississippi River by citizens or a municipality of any other state shall become a legal highway or a charge upon the town in which the road is located unless upon petition the highway is legally laid out by the town board.
82.31(2)(c)(c) No lands granted for highway purposes that did not become a legal highway prior to July 1, 1913, shall become a legal highway unless the grant is accepted by the town board or by the town meeting of the town where the lands and proposed highway are located, and until a resolution of acceptance of the grant is recorded in the office of the town clerk.
82.31 NoteNOTE: 2003 Wis. Act 214, which affected this section, contains extensive explanatory notes.
82.31 AnnotationWhen a governmental unit shows public use of a road for 20 years or public maintenance for ten years, a landowner claiming that the road is private has the burden of proving permissive use. Ruchti v. Monroe, 83 Wis. 2d 551, 266 N.W.2d 309 (1978).
82.31 AnnotationWhen a highway was established by user, the existence of ancient fences within two rods of either side of the center of the highway was sufficient to rebut the sub. (2) presumption that the highway was four rods in width. Threlfall v. Town of Muscoda, 190 Wis. 2d 121, 527 N.W.2d 367 (Ct. App. 1994).
82.31 AnnotationThe test under sub. (2) for whether a highway has been “worked” is whether the work demonstrates the public’s ownership of the road so that the public use of the road is not merely permissive. Continuous work on a road by a public entity is more likely to demonstrate ownership than sporadic work. County of Langlade v. Kaster, 202 Wis. 2d 448, 550 N.W.2d 722 (Ct. App. 1996), 95-2694.
82.31 AnnotationWhen documents indicate an intent to dedicate roadways to the public, in the absence of official acceptance by the municipality, prior acceptance by the general public users prevents revocation of the offer to dedicate. Nothing prevents the acceptance of the ongoing offer by a municipality. Upon formal acceptance the municipality becomes liable for maintenance and for damages that might result from defects. Cohn v. Town of Randall, 2001 WI App 176, 247 Wis. 2d 118, 633 N.W.2d 674, 00-2176.
82.31 AnnotationA street is presumed to be 66 feet wide unless rebutted, by a preponderance of the evidence, by those contending that the street is some other width. Village of Brown Deer v. Balisterri, 2013 WI App 137, 351 Wis. 2d 665, 841 N.W.2d 59, 13-0748.
82.31 AnnotationThe general definition of highway in s. 990.01 (12) governs and does not have any limitation restricting the definition to vehicular traffic. Case law has extended the definition of highway to include roads, streets, bridges, sidewalks, driveway aprons, and shoulders of the highway. Village of Brown Deer v. Balisterri, 2013 WI App 137, 351 Wis. 2d 665, 841 N.W.2d 59, 13-0748.
82.31 AnnotationDiscussing rights-of-way boundaries of nondedicated roads. 69 Atty. Gen. 87.
82.31 NoteNOTE: The above annotations cite to s. 80.01 (1) or (2), the predecessor statutes to this section.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2006–2026 · leading case: Affeldt v. Green Lake Cnty., 2011 WI 56 (Wis. 2011).
Affeldt v. Green Lake Cnty., 2011 WI 56 (Wis. 2011). “The circuit court determined that the Affeldts failed to set forth sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption under Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a) (2007-08) 2 that Highway B is 66 feet (four rods) wide.”
Vill. of Brown Deer v. Balisterri, 2013 WI App 137 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013). “As material to this appeal, Brown Deer contended that it could improve the streets at issue, without paying eminent-domain compensation because, the Village asserted, the projected improvements were *668 on public highways within the purview of Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a). In a…”
City of Prescott v. Holmgren, 2006 WI App 172 (Wis. Ct. App. 2006). “The City asserted an interest in the turn-around based on three alternate theories: (1) ten years of public maintenance under Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2); (2) twenty years of prescriptive use by the public; or (3) common law dedication.”
State v. Tecza, 2008 WI App 79 (Wis. Ct. App. 2008). “…at farms or single-family residences. 4 The statutorily presumptive width of highways in Wisconsin is sixty-six feet. Wis. Stat. § 82.31 .”
Joseph Taggart v. Town of Little Wolf (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). “§ 82.31(1) (2017-18),2 and also no genuine issues of material fact about whether the disputed portion was 1 For ease of reference we use the present tense (the Taggarts “own” the parcel) but the past tense would be more accurate.”
Anna Heise Revocable Trust v. Vill. of Pewaukee (Wis. Ct. App. 2026). ““§ 82.31, in particular, is a recodification of WIS.”
Todd A. Boyce v. Town of Winchester (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 82.31 by virtue of its having “worked this lane continuously for over ten years … [with] the sign placement, the graveling, the plowing, the mowing, [and] the County chipping and sealing … from the very least from 1991 to the present.”
John P. Werler v. Douglas Berends (Wis. Ct. App. 2024). “§ 82.31(2)(a) provides, in pertinent part: “[A]ny unrecorded highway that has been worked as a public highway for 10 years or more is a public highway and is presumed to be 66 feet wide.”
Vill. of Bay City v. David C. Meixner (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 82.31, or a public user by work easement (public user); and by a prescriptive easement.”
— Wis. Stat. § 82.31(1) — 3 cases
Affeldt v. Green Lake Cnty., 2011 WI 56 (Wis. 2011). “The circuit court determined that the Affeldts failed to set forth sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption under Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a) (2007-08) 2 that Highway B is 66 feet (four rods) wide.”
Joseph Taggart v. Town of Little Wolf (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). “§ 82.31(1) (2017-18),2 and also no genuine issues of material fact about whether the disputed portion was 1 For ease of reference we use the present tense (the Taggarts “own” the parcel) but the past tense would be more accurate.”
Vill. of Brown Deer v. Balisterri, 2013 WI App 137 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013). “As material to this appeal, Brown Deer contended that it could improve the streets at issue, without paying eminent-domain compensation because, the Village asserted, the projected improvements were *668 on public highways within the purview of Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a). In a…”
— Wis. Stat. § 82.31(2) — 2 cases
Affeldt v. Green Lake Cnty., 2011 WI 56 (Wis. 2011). “The circuit court determined that the Affeldts failed to set forth sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption under Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a) (2007-08) 2 that Highway B is 66 feet (four rods) wide.”
Anna Heise Revocable Trust v. Vill. of Pewaukee (Wis. Ct. App. 2026). ““§ 82.31, in particular, is a recodification of WIS.”
— Wis. Stat. § 82.31(2)(a) — 6 cases
Affeldt v. Green Lake Cnty., 2011 WI 56 (Wis. 2011). “The circuit court determined that the Affeldts failed to set forth sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption under Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a) (2007-08) 2 that Highway B is 66 feet (four rods) wide.”
Vill. of Brown Deer v. Balisterri, 2013 WI App 137 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013). “As material to this appeal, Brown Deer contended that it could improve the streets at issue, without paying eminent-domain compensation because, the Village asserted, the projected improvements were *668 on public highways within the purview of Wis. Stat. § 82.31 (2)(a). In a…”
John P. Werler v. Douglas Berends (Wis. Ct. App. 2024). “§ 82.31(2)(a) provides, in pertinent part: “[A]ny unrecorded highway that has been worked as a public highway for 10 years or more is a public highway and is presumed to be 66 feet wide.”
Todd A. Boyce v. Town of Winchester (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 82.31 by virtue of its having “worked this lane continuously for over ten years … [with] the sign placement, the graveling, the plowing, the mowing, [and] the County chipping and sealing … from the very least from 1991 to the present.”
Vill. of Bay City v. David C. Meixner (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 82.31, or a public user by work easement (public user); and by a prescriptive easement.”
— Wis. Stat. § 82.31(2)(c) — 1 case
Todd A. Boyce v. Town of Winchester (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 82.31 by virtue of its having “worked this lane continuously for over ten years … [with] the sign placement, the graveling, the plowing, the mowing, [and] the County chipping and sealing … from the very least from 1991 to the present.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.