Unmined
gold: Finding Wisconsin
local legal resources
By
Paula Seeger
Special to Wisconsin Law Journal
Sept.
21, 2005
Maybe
you know where to find your local ordinances, but what about all the other resources
produced by local governments that could assist you in your practice? This handy
guide will walk you through what's available and where to find local legal resources
across the state. All web links worked as of the time of writing.
Ordinances:
County and Municipal
If
a municipality has put their ordinances online, the State Law Library links to
them from their Web site: wsll.state.wi.us/
ordinances.html.
Most
public libraries, city or county clerks offices, or local law libraries will have
local ordinances available in print. The State Law Library has many municipal
ordinance volumes available in print.
Court
Rules
The
State Bar links to any Circuit Court Rules that are available online: www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Circuit_court_rules2.
Clerk
of courts offices, local law libraries, and some public libraries will have print
copies of local rules available in print. The State Law Library collects the Circuit
Court Rules as well.
OWI
Sentencing Guidelines
The
State Bar links to the ten judicial districts' OWI sentencing guidelines:
www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Wisconsin_courts1&
Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=41136.
The
district court administrator's offices will have print copies of these guidelines
as well.
Circuit
Court Resources
The
Court System links to any Circuit Court that has a Web site: www.wicourts.
gov/contact/ccsites.htm.
Some
clerk of courts offices offer informational resources in print. Sub-stantial Dane
or Milwaukee County Circuit Court information can be found at the respective staffed
county law libraries in each county as well. Dane County Legal Resource Center
is located in the Dane County Courthouse at 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Room
315, in Madison or call (608) 266-6316. They will be moving into the new Dane
County Justice Center in January 2006. Milwaukee Legal Resource Center is located
in the Mil-waukee County Courthouse at 901 North 9th Street, Room 307A, in Milwaukee,
or call (414) 278-4900.
Circuit
Court Case Information
Wisconsin
Circuit Court Access (WCCA, also known as CCAP) supplies searchers with docket
and court record event information. wcca.wicourts.gov/ index.xsl.
Finding
older circuit court cases can be difficult without complete case information,
such as a case number or party names. Supreme Court Rule 72 (available at: www.wicourts.gov/sc/scrule/Display
Document.pdf?
content=pdf&seqNo=18871) regulates how long circuit court
records must be retained by the courts. If you cannot access a case file directly
through the court records office (often in the Clerk of Courts office), here are
some other options that you might try:
1.
Was the case appealed? If so, there's a good chance that the circuit court decision
is included in an appendix to the briefs on appeal. The State Law Library has
a large number of briefs in print and the UW Law Library has made several years
worth available online. More information is at: http://wsll.state.wi.us/ briefs.html.
2. You
can check the collection of the WI Historical Society at www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/readroom/locrecs.asp
for local records and cases.
3.
Looking for a Dane County court decision? Check the index of cases donated to
the Dane County Legal Resource Center from the Dane County Circuit Court judges.
They are located on the DCLRC's Web site at: wsll.state.wi.us/branch/dclrc/pub/decisions.pdf.
Court
Forms and Procedures
Check
the local clerk of circuit court's office Web site. For example, Dane County Clerk
of Courts office has extensive Web resources, such as FAQ's, forms, and fact sheets:
http://www.countyofdane.com/clrkcort/clrkhome.htm
that are designed for the lay user.
The
State Bar also links to circuit court forms and information at: www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Wisconsin_courts1#cc.
Municipal
Court Resources
The
Court System has information on their Web site: www.wicourts.gov/about/organization/municipal/index.htm.
In addition, they link to municipal court Web sites across the state at www.wicourts.gov/about/organization/municipal/links.htm.
Contact
the municipal court clerk's office for more information in print. The State Law
Library also has municipal court print resources, such as the Municipal Court
Benchbook, in their collection.
Police/Sheriff
Web Resources
The
State of Wisconsin links to police department Web sites across the state:
www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/
alphabetical_index_of_wisconsin_police_departments.html.
Many
departments offer resources on their Web site, such as policy and procedure manuals.
Here's an example from the City of Milwaukee's Police Depart-ment: www.city.milwaukee.gov/display/
router.asp?docid=5011.
Other
Local Web Resources
The
Wisconsin Counties Association offers many resources for local governments on
their Web site: www.wicounties.org/ and
links to each county's Web site. On county Web sites will be resources for local
departments or agencies.
The
League of Wisconsin Municipalities has a Web site of legal resources, facts about
municipalities, and legislative and lobbying information: www.lwm-info.org/.
The
State of Wisconsin links to municipal Web sites across the state at: www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/wisconsin_cities_towns_and_villages.html.
Explore
the local municipality's Web site for more information on its agencies, departments,
boards, or councils. Some offer extensive resources, such as the Online City Hall
from the City of Madison: http://legistar.city
ofmadison .com/mattersearch/home. aspx.
Local
Bar Associations
The
State Bar links to local bar association information that is available online:
www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Local_and_specialty_bars.
Historical
Local Legal Resources
Many
county and city ordinances have history notes that are a good place to start to
track changes or histories of local laws. You can usually find superceded pages
of laws, rules, or ordinances in the city or county clerk's office, the city attorney's
office, or the corporation counsel's office for the city or county. If there is
no history note, it may be difficult to track changes, especially if the clerk's
office doesn't keep old laws. A person would most likely need to track the law
back through the county board or city council proceedings.
More
local historical resources are available through historical societies. The State
Historical Society links to local societies on their Web site at: www.wisconsinhistory.org/localhistory/directory/regionsearch.asp
and offers tips for the local historian or history buff: www.wisconsinhistory.org
/localhistory/help.asp.
Paula
Seeger, is a librarian for the Dane County Legal Resource Center, Madison.
