Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 971.03 (2026)
Form of information
✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
STATE OF WISCONSIN,
.... County,
In .... Court.
The State of Wisconsin
vs.
.... (Name of defendant).
I, .... district attorney for said county, hereby inform the court that on the .... day of ...., in the year .... (year), at said county the defendant did (state the crime) .... contrary to section .... of the statutes.
Dated ...., .... (year),
.... District Attorney
971.03 AnnotationAn information charging attempt is sufficient if it alleges the attempt plus the elements of the attempted crime. Wilson v. State, 59 Wis. 2d 269, 208 N.W.2d 134 (1973).
971.03 AnnotationWhen a victim’s name was correctly spelled in the complaint but wrong on the information, the variance was immaterial. State v. Bagnall, 61 Wis. 2d 297, 212 N.W.2d 122 (1973).
971.03 AnnotationThe law does not require that the information specify with particularity upon which dates the course of conduct occurred. In drafting an information, the state should not have to spell out every act that would comprise an element of the crime. Instead, allegations of the elements of the crime charged will suffice. State v. Conner, 2009 WI App 143, 321 Wis. 2d 449, 775 N.W.2d 105, 08-1296.
971.03 AnnotationWhile citation to a specific statute may be the preferred practice, failure to specifically cite to a statute in the information and complaint is harmless error when there is no prejudice to the defendant. State v. Elverman, 2015 WI App 91, 366 Wis. 2d 169, 873 N.W.2d 528, 14-0354.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1973–2023 · leading case: United States v. Defabian C. Shannon, 110 F.3d 382 (7th Cir. 1997).
United States v. Defabian C. Shannon, 110 F.3d 382 (7th Cir. 1997). “After filing a fact-specific complaint and proceeding through a preliminary hearing at which probable cause is found, the prosecutor, “Michael Clark,” drafts the information in accordance with Wis.Stat. § 971.03. It reads, I, Michael Clark, district attorney for Milwaukee…”
State v. Gerard, 525 N.W.2d 718 (Wis. 1995). “According to sec. 971.03, Stats., the information need only provide a statement of the crime charged; it does not require a statement as to penalty or penalty enhancer.”
State v. Trammel, 413 N.W.2d 657 (Wis. Ct. App. 1987). “The form of an information in Wisconsin is governed generally by sec. 971.03, Stats. 4 This statute *79 requires only a statement as to the crime charged.”
State v. Edwards, 2013 WI App 51 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013). “02 (1) (complaint furnished to defendant at initial appearance must contain possible penalties); 2 see also Wis. Stat. § 971.03 (form of information).”
State v. Copening, 309 N.W.2d 850 (Wis. Ct. App. 1981). “In Wisconsin, a criminal proceeding is commenced by the filing of a complaint which is “a written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged.” Sec. 968.”
United States v. Defabian Shannon, 94 F.3d 1065 (7th Cir. 1996). “Wis. Stat. Ann. § 971.03 . If I may suggest an analogy based on human anatomy: the complaint is like a living human body, complete with a bone structure, heart, lungs, blood vessels, muscles, and the like, while the information is more akin to a bare bones skeleton.”
Wagner v. State, 211 N.W.2d 449 (Wis. 1973). “10 Sec. 971.03, Stats. 11 See: Platz, The 1949 Revision of the Wisconsin Code of Criminal Procedure, 1950 Wis.”
State v. Ayodeji J. Aderemi (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 971.03. “The [I]nformation informs the defendant of the exact charges against him in order to allow effective preparation of the plea and defense.”
State v. Steven M. Nelson (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 971.03, “does not require a statement as to [the] penalty or penalty enhancer.”
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.