Chapter 19 — GENERAL DUTIES OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS

19.01 Oaths and bonds. (1) FORM OF OATH. Every official oath required by article IV, section 28, of the constitution or by any statute shall be in writing, subscribed and sworn to and except as provided otherwise by s. 757.02 and SCR 40.15, shall be in substantially the following…

19.015 Actions by the state, municipality or district. Whenever the state or any county, town, city, village, school district or technical college district is entitled to recover any damages, money, penalty or forfeiture on any official bond, the attorney general, county chairper…

19.02 Actions by individuals. Any person injured by the act, neglect or default of any officer, except the state officers, the officer’s deputies or other persons which constitutes a breach of the condition of the official bond of the officer, may maintain an action in that perso…

19.03 Security for costs; notice of action. (1) Every person commencing an action against any officer and sureties upon an official bond, except the obligee named therein, shall give security for costs by an undertaking as prescribed in s. 814.28 (3), and a copy thereof shall be …

19.04 Other actions on same bond. No action brought upon an official bond shall be barred or dismissed by reason merely that any former action shall have been prosecuted on such bond, but any payment of damages made or collected from the sureties or any of them on any judgment in…

19.05 Execution; lien of judgment. (1) Whenever a judgment is rendered against any officer and the officer’s sureties on the officer’s official bond in any court other than the circuit court of the county in which the officer’s official bond is filed, no execution for the collect…

19.06 Sureties, how relieved. Whenever several judgments shall be recovered against the sureties on any official bond in actions which shall have been commenced before the date of the entry of the last of such judgments the aggregate of which, exclusive of costs, shall exceed the…

19.07 Bonds of public officers and employees. (1) CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES; BLANKET BONDS. (a) The surety bond of any civil service employee of a city, village, town or county may be canceled in the manner provided by sub. (3). (b) Any number of officers, department heads or emplo…

19.10 Oaths. Each of the officers enumerated in s. 8.25 (4) (a) or (5) shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by article IV, section 28, of the constitution, as follows: The governor and lieutenant governor, before entering upon the duties of office; the secretary…

19.11 Official bonds. (1) The secretary of state and treasurer shall each furnish a bond to the state, at the time each takes and subscribes the oath of office required of that officer, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of the office, and the officer’s duties a…

19.12 Bond premiums payable from public funds. Any public officer required by law to give a suretyship obligation may pay the lawful premium for the execution of the obligation out of any moneys available for the payment of expenses of the office or department, unless payment is …

19.21 Custody and delivery of official property and records. (1) Each and every officer of the state, or of any county, town, city, village, school district, or other municipality or district, is the legal custodian of and shall safely keep and preserve all property and things re…

19.22 Proceedings to compel the delivery of official property. (1) If any public officer refuses or neglects to deliver to his or her successor any official property or things as required in s. 19.21, or if the property or things shall come to the hands of any other person who re…

19.23 Transfer of records or materials to historical society. (1) Any public records, in any state office, that are not required for current use may, in the discretion of the public records board, be transferred into the custody of the historical society, as provided in s. 16.61.…

19.24 Refusal to deliver money, etc., to successor. Any public officer whatever, in this state, who shall, at the expiration of the officer’s term of office, refuse or willfully neglect to deliver, on demand, to the officer’s successor in office, after such successor shall have b…

19.25 State officers may require searches, etc., without fees. The secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general, respectively, are authorized to require searches in the respective offices of each other and in the offices of the clerk of the supreme court, of the court of ap…

19.31 Declaration of policy. In recognition of the fact that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of gove…

19.32 Definitions. As used in ss. 19.32 to 19.39: (1) “Authority” means any of the following having custody of a record: a state or local office, elective official, agency, board, commission, committee, council, department or public body corporate and politic created by the const…

19.33 Legal custodians. (1) An elective official is the legal custodian of his or her records and the records of his or her office, but the official may designate an employee of his or her staff to act as the legal custodian. (2) The chairperson of a committee of elective officia…

19.34 Procedural information; access times and locations. (1) Each authority shall adopt, prominently display and make available for inspection and copying at its offices, for the guidance of the public, a notice containing a description of its organization and the established ti…

19.345 Time computation. In ss. 19.33 to 19.39, when a time period is provided for performing an act, whether the period is expressed in hours or days, the whole of Saturday, Sunday, and any legal holiday, from midnight to midnight, shall be excluded in computing the period. Hist…

19.35 Access to records; fees. (1) RIGHT TO INSPECTION. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, any requester has a right to inspect any record. Substantive common law principles construing the right to inspect, copy or receive copies of records shall remain in effect. The exemp…

19.356 Notice to record subject; right of action. (1) Except as authorized in this section or as otherwise provided by statute, no authority is required to notify a record subject prior to providing to a requester access to a record containing information pertaining to that recor…

19.36 (6), this subsection does not require an authority to create a 19.35 new record by extracting information from existing records and compiling the information in a new format. (2) FACILITIES. The authority shall provide any person who is authorized to inspect or copy a recor…

19.37 Enforcement and penalties. (1) MANDAMUS. If an authority withholds a record or a part of a record or delays granting access to a record or part of a record after a written request for disclosure is made, the requester may pursue either, or both, of the alternatives under pa…

19.39 Interpretation by attorney general. Any person may request advice from the attorney general as to the applicability of this subchapter under any circumstances. The attorney general may respond to such a request. History: 1981 c. 335. SUBCHAPTER III CODE OF ETHICS FOR PUBLIC…

19.41 Declaration of policy. (1) It is declared that high moral and ethical standards among state public officials and state employees are essential to the conduct of free government; that the legislature believes that a code of ethics for the guidance of state public officials a…

19.42 (7u). (1dm) “Local public office” has the meaning given in s. 19.42 (7w), and also includes any appointive office or position of a local governmental unit in which an individual serves as the head of a department, agency, or division of the local governmental unit, but does…

19.43 Financial disclosure. (1) Each individual who in January of any year is an official required to file, and who is an official required to file for at least 14 days in that year, shall file with the commission no later than April 30 of that year a statement of economic intere…

19.44 (1). The information contained on the statement shall be current as of December 31 of the preceding year. (2) An official required to file shall file with the commission a statement of economic interests meeting each of the requirements of s. 19.44 (1) no later than 21 days…

19.45 Standards of conduct; state public officials. (1) The legislature hereby reaffirms that a state public official holds his or her position as a public trust, and any effort to realize substantial personal gain through official conduct is a violation of that trust. This subch…

19.451 Discounts at certain stadiums. No person serving in a national, state or local office, as defined in s. 5.02, may accept any discount on the price of admission or parking charged to members of the general public, including any discount on the use of a sky box or private lu…

19.46 Conflict of interest prohibited; exception. (1) Except in accordance with the commission’s advice under sub. (2) and except as otherwise provided in sub. (3), no state public official may: (a) Take any official action substantially affecting a matter in which the official, …

19.47 Operation. (1) OFFICE. The office of the commission shall be in Madison, but the commission may, after proper public notice and in compliance with subch. V, meet or exercise any of its powers at any other place in the state. (2) ADMINISTRATOR. The commission shall appoint a…

19.48 Duties of the ethics commission. The commission shall: (1) Promulgate rules necessary to carry out ch. 11, subch. III of ch. 13, and this subchapter. The commission shall give prompt notice of the contents of its rules to state public officials who will be affected thereby.…

19.49 Administration; enforcement. (1) GENERAL AUTHORITY. The commission shall have the responsibility for the administration of ch. 11, subch. III of ch. 13, and this subchapter. Pursuant to such responsibility, the commission may: (a) In the discharge of its duties and after pr…

19.50 Unauthorized release of records or information. (1) Except as specifically authorized by law and except as provided in sub. (2), no investigator, prosecutor, employee of an investigator or prosecutor, or member or employee of the commission may disclose information related …

19.55 Public inspection of records. (1) Except as provided in subs. (2) to (4) and s. 19.36 (15), all records under ch. 11, this subchapter, or subch. III of ch. 13 in the possession of the commission are open to public inspection at all reasonable times. The commission shall req…

19.552 Action to compel compliance. Whenever a violation of the laws regulating campaign financing occurs or is proposed to occur, the attorney general or the district attorney of the county where the violation occurs or is proposed to occur may sue for injunctive relief, a writ …

19.554 Petition for enforcement. In addition to or in lieu of filing a complaint, any elector may file a verified petition alleging such facts as are within his or her knowledge to indicate that an election official has failed or is failing to comply with any law regulating campa…

19.56 (3) (e), (em) or (f) or if the donor is the donee’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, spouse, fiance or fiancee. (h) Lodging, transportation, money or other …

19.57 Conferences, visits and economic development activities. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation shall file a report with the commission no later than April 30 annually, specifying the source and amount of anything of value received by the Wisconsin Economic Developm…

19.575 Tourism activities. The department of tourism shall file a report with the commission no later than April 30 annually, specifying the source and amount of anything of value received by the department of tourism during the preceding calendar year for a purpose specified in …

19.579 Civil penalties. (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26) 31 Updated 23-24 Wis. Stats. GENERAL DUTIES OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS any person who violates this subchapter may be required to forfeit not more than $500 for each vi…

19.58 Criminal penalties. (1) (a) Any person who intentionally violates any provision of this subchapter except s. 19.45 (13) or 19.59 (1) (br), or a code of ethics adopted or established under s. 19.45 (11) (a) or (b), shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $5,000 or im…

19.59 (1) (br) is guilty of a Class I felony. (2) The penalties under sub. (1) do not limit the power of either house of the legislature to discipline its own members or to impeach a public official, or limit the power of a department to discipline its state public officials or e…

19.62 (7), that is not indexed, arranged or automated in a way that the record can be retrieved by the authority maintaining the records series by use of an individual’s name, address or other identifier. (b) Except as otherwise provided by law, any requester has a right to inspe…

19.65 Rules of conduct; employee training; and security. An authority shall do all of the following: (1) Develop rules of conduct for its employees who are involved in collecting, maintaining, using, providing access to, sharing or archiving personally identifiable information. (…

19.67 Data collection. (1) COLLECTION FROM DATA SUBJECT OR VERIFICATION. An authority that maintains personally identifiable information that may result in an adverse determination about any individual’s rights, benefits or privileges shall, to the greatest extent practicable, do…