Chapter 801 — CIVIL PROCEDURE — COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION AND VENUE

801.01 Kinds of proceedings; scope of chs. 801 to 847. (1) KINDS. Proceedings in the courts are divided into actions and special proceedings. In chs. 801 to 847, “action” includes “special proceeding” unless a specific provision of procedure in special proceedings exists. (2) SCO…

801.02 Commencement of action. (1) A civil action in which a personal judgment is sought is commenced as to any defendant when a summons and a complaint naming the person as defendant are filed with the court, provided service of an authenticated copy of the summons and of the co…

801.03 Jurisdiction; definitions. In this chapter, the following words have the designated meanings: (1) “Defendant” means the person named as defendant in a civil action, and where in this chapter acts of the defendant are referred to, the reference attributes to the defendant a…

801.04 Jurisdictional requirements for judgments against persons, status and things. (1) JURISDICTION OF SUBJECT MATTER REQUIRED FOR ALL CIVIL ACTIONS. A court of this state may entertain a civil action only when the court has power to hear the kind of action brought. The power o…

801.05 Personal jurisdiction, grounds for generally.

801.06 Personal jurisdiction, grounds for without service of summons.

801.07 Jurisdiction in rem or quasi in rem, grounds for generally.

801.08 Objection to personal jurisdiction.

801.09 Summons, contents of.

801.095 Summons form.

801.10 Summons, by whom served.

801.11 Personal jurisdiction, manner of serving summons for.

801.12 Jurisdiction in rem or quasi in rem, manner of serving summons for; notice of object of action.

801.13 Summons; when deemed served.

801.14 Service and filing of pleadings and other papers.

801.145 Form of papers. 801.15 801.16 801.18 801.19 801.20 801.21 801.50 801.51 801.52 801.53 801.54 801.56 801.58 801.59 801.61 801.62 801.63 801.64 NOTE: This chapter was created by Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585 (1975), which contains explanatory notes. Statutes prior to the 1…

801.15 Time. (1) (a) In this subsection, “holiday” means any day that is a holiday provided in s. 230.35 (4) (a) or a statewide legal holiday provided in s. 995.20 or both, and a full day on Good Friday. (b) Notwithstanding ss. 985.09 and 990.001 (4), in computing any period of t…

801.16 Filing. (1) The filing of pleadings and other papers with the court as required by these statutes shall be made by filing them with the clerk of circuit court. The judge may require that the person filing the papers provide a copy to the judge. (2) For papers that do not r…

801.18 and such transmission is completed between 5 p.m. and midnight, one day shall be added to the prescribed period. History: Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 610 (1975); 1975 c. 218; Sup. Ct. Order, 73 Wis. 2d xxxi (1976); 1977 c. 187 s. 135; 1977 c. 449; 1979 c. 89; 1983 a. 1…

801.19 Protected information in circuit court records. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Protected information” means any of the following contained in a circuit court record: 1. A social security number. 2. An employer or taxpayer identification number. 3. A financial accou…

801.20 When documents may be filed as confidential. (1) The director of state courts shall maintain a list of commonly-filed documents made confidential by statutes, court rules and case law, and shall make this list publicly available. Documents on the list may be submitted by a…

801.21 regarding redaction of protected information, identification of confidential material, and sealing of filed documents. (c) If a document is confidential, it shall be identified as confidential by the submitting party when it is filed. The electronic May 22, 2026, are desig…

801.50 Venue in civil actions or special proceedings. (1) A defect in venue shall not affect the validity of any order or judgment. (2) Except as otherwise provided by statute, venue in civil actions or special proceedings shall be as follows: (a) In the county where the claim ar…

801.51 Challenges to improper venue. Any party may challenge venue, on the grounds of noncompliance with s. 801.50 or any other statute designating proper venue, by filing a motion for change of venue: (1) At or before the time the party serves his or her first motion or responsi…

801.52 Discretionary change of venue. The court may at any time, upon its own motion, the motion of a party or the stipulation of the parties, change the venue to any county in the interest of justice or for the convenience of the parties or witnesses, except that venue in a civi…

801.53 Determination of motion for change of venue. Motions under ss. 801.51 and 801.52 shall be determined on the basis of proofs submitted by the parties unless the court orders a hearing or oral argument. Oral argument shall be heard by telephonic conference unless the court o…

801.54 Discretionary transfer of civil actions to tribal court. (1) SCOPE. In a civil action where a circuit court and a court or judicial system of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in Wisconsin (“tribal court”) have concurrent jurisdiction, this rule authoriz…

801.56 Change of venue if judge disqualified by interest. When the judge is a party or interested in any action in the judge’s court or is related to or has been of counsel for either party, the court or the presiding judge thereof shall, upon application of either party, and may…

801.58 Substitution of judge. (1) Any party to a civil action or proceeding may file a written request, signed personally or by his or her attorney, with the clerk of courts for a substitution of a new judge for the judge assigned to the case. The written request shall be filed p…

801.59 Assigned judge. In any case where another judge has been assigned under s. 751.03 to hear a particular action or proceeding, the clerk of circuit court shall forthwith notify all parties to the action or proceeding, by mail or telephone, noting in the case file the time no…

801.61 Proceedings after order for change of venue. When the place of trial is changed all process, pleadings and other papers, and copies of all entries and minutes of the clerk in such action shall be certified and transmitted by such clerk to the clerk of the court to which th…

801.62 Conclusiveness of change of venue; second motion. After trial in the court to which the action has been changed, the proceedings for the change shall be conclusive unless a motion to remand was made before the trial commences. If after the transmission of the papers an ord…

801.63 Stay of proceeding to permit trial in a foreign forum. (1) STAY ON INITIATIVE OF PARTIES. If a court of this state, on motion of any party, finds that trial of an action pending before it should as a matter of substantial justice be tried in a forum outside this state, the…

801.64 Legislative findings; 2007 Wisconsin Act 1. The legislature finds that providing under 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 for the place of trial in the county where the offender resides is consistent with the legislature’s authority under article I, section 7, of the constitution and wi…