Wisconsin Background Check

Conduct a thorough criminal background check in Wisconsin by searching criminal history, Wisconsin court records, find current past addresses, check Wisconsin prison, jail inmate records, and Wisconsin department of corrections records. Also check Wisconsin professional licenses and other credentials.



Free Background Check in Wisconsin

Case information remains accessible on WCCA for the minimum retention period for the case type as set by Supreme Court Rule - Chapter 72. However, cases with active warrants, active appeals or money still owed remain available on WCCA. Contact the Clerk of Circuit Court office in the county where the case was filed for complete case information for those cases that no longer display on WCCA. Case types that are confidential do not appear on this list.

Cases remain available as follows:

5 Years
Traffic Forfeiture Cases (TR)
Non-Traffic Ordinance Violation Cases (FO)
Incarcerated Person Cases (IP)

20 Years
Docketed Judgments
Tax Warrants (TW), with the following exceptions:
Filed before 7/31/1981 - 10 years.
Filed from 7/31/1981 - 4/30/2004 – Permanent retention.
Filed after 4/30/2004: 20 years, but can be renewed for an additional 20 years.

Civil Cases (CV)
Complex Forfeiture Cases (CX)
Foreign Judgment Cases (FJ)
Transcript of Judgment Cases (TJ)
Unemployment Compensation Cases (UC)
Workers Compensation Cases (WC)
Tribal Court Order Cases (TC)
Misdemeanor and Criminal Traffic Cases (CM and CT)
Small Claims Cases (SC), with the following exceptions:
Dismissed SC cases filed prior to 7/1/2006 are removed 1 year after the final order.
Dismissed SC cases filed 7/1/2006 or later are removed 2 years after the final order.
Dismissed cases to which these time periods apply do not include stipulated dismissals - see SCR 72.01(8).

30 Years
Family Cases (FA), with the following exceptions:
Dismissed divorce and annulment/legal separation cases are retained for 5 years.
Paternity post judgment actions (PA)

50 Years
Class B - I Felony Cases (CF)

75 Years
Class A Felony Cases (CF)
Probate and Informal Probate Cases (PR and IN)
John Doe Cases (JD, with class code 34001) for proceedings under §968.26, Wis. Stats.
Proceedings commenced under §968.02(3) (JD, with class code 34003).
Commitment of an Inmate Cases (CI)

100 Years
Will Filed Cases (WL)



What Is an Wisconsin Background Check?

A Wisconsin Background Check offers a comprehensive search in public records for:

  • Vital records, like births, deaths, marriages, and divorces
  • Current contact information and previous addresses
  • Criminal records, convictions and prison records or sex offender registration
  • Civil court filings, like civil judgments
  • Tax liens and bankruptcies
  • Records of real estate ownership and registered assets
  • Professional and business licenses

Wisconsin background check is available through the state or through premium data aggregation services who conduct public record data searches and provide you with a report.. Each state, and sometimes each county, has different rules on how much information is available and who can access background check data. Therefore a background check may still not contain every record about a person, however in most cases it is very thorough. Most premium background check services use multiple databases of public records in order to provide you with their background reports.



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