Obtain Copies of Documents from a Court File

The Civil, Criminal/Traffic, Family, and Juvenile divisions must charge a statutory fee of $1.25 per page for copies of official court documents. Copies can be certified (stamped as official copies) for an additional $5.00 charge for each document.

The Register in Probate must charge a statutory fee of $1.00 per page for copies of official court documents. Copies can be certified (stamped as official copies) for an additional $3.00 charge for each document.

In Person:

Go to the Circuit Court Division where the case is filed. You will need to know the case number (which may be located on WCCA) or the last name, first name, and date of birth of one of the parties for certain cases. If you do not have this information and you are unable to find the individual or record using a public access computer, you may complete the Record Search form and pay the $5.00 search fee to receive assistance with the record search (this fee is $4.00 in Probate Court). If you would like copies of any pages, DO NOT REMOVE THE PAGES, but place a paperclip on each page of which you want a copy.

By Mail:

Send a written request to the Circuit Court Division where the case is filed. You will need to know the case number or last name and date of birth of one of the parties for certain cases, the specific document or information you need, a self addressed stamped envelope, and a phone number at where the clerk may reach you. If you do not have this information and you are unable to find the information using a public access computer, you may complete the Record Search form and pay the $5.00 search fee to receive assistance with the record search (this fee is $4.00 in Probate Court). Note: Payment in full will be required before your request will be processed.

By Phone:

Call or Fax the Circuit Court Division where the case is filed. You will need to know the case number, or last name, first name, date of birth of one of the parties for certain cases, and the specific document or information you need. The clerk will make arrangements with you for payment and pick-up/delivery, by mail or in person. Note: Payment in full will be required before your request will be processed.

Note: All Divisions accepts credit card payments in person or by phone.

Copies of Juvenile Court Records
See the section on “Viewing the Court File in Person.” The Juvenile Court Judge will order which records, if any, may be copied.

Retrieval of Off-Site Court Files and/or Filed Hard Copy Documents

In order to manage our case-related records according to statutory record retention procedures and Supreme Court Rules, and in consideration of efficient use of internal business space, the Circuit Court Services department utilizes both on-site and off-site record filing facilities.

Process for Retrieval of Records

• If you require access to public court records, please contact staff in the appropriate division - Criminal/Traffic, Family, Civil, Juvenile, Family Court Services (FCS), or Register in Probate for assistance.
• On-site case information and documents are available, per state statute, through hard copy records, microfilm, digital record images, or web based data access. Staff will be happy to assist you in viewing this information.
• Off-site hard copy records or files must be retrieved and brought to the courthouse campus for viewing. Staff will accept requests for off-site records and will coordinate retrieval of your requested information. Records stored off-site can normally be made available within 72 hours of your request.
  • At the time of your request, you will be notified when your requested records will be available for viewing.
  • Requested records will remain in our offices for 3 business days to allow you sufficient time to review them.
  • Following the 3 business days, they will be returned to off-site storage.
  • If you anticipate requiring additional time to review records, please coordinate this with our customer service/records staff in the appropriate division.

Costs/Charges

Normal requests

• There is no charge for normal off-site records requests that are processed in the 72-hour time frame.

Immediate/Emergency requests

• At your expense, you may request immediate retrieval of records.
• On an emergency request basis, and after payment of the appropriate fees, our office can normally retrieve requested record(s) within 2 hours.
• A more precise notification of the records availability can be provided at the time of the records request. For example, an emergency request processed at 9:00 am will be more readily available than a request made at 4:25 pm.
• Fees for this extended service have been set at $22.75 per trip, which represents the county’s cost of round trip pick-up and delivery, record retrieval and re-shelving.

View a Court File

Waukesha County Circuit Court records are available to view in the Waukesha County Clerk of Courts Office or at the Wisconsin Circuit Court Website.

Unless sealed by the court or considered confidential by law, circuit court files are open to public inspection.  Records can be viewed during business hours.  Older circuit court cases are stored in an off-site location - please refer to the Retrieval of Off-Site Court tab above.

Public access computers are available in the Business Center, Civil, Criminal/Traffic, Family, and Probate divisions for viewing of Waukesha County case information only.

Juvenile Court
Any requests for inspection/review and/or release of records, or requests for transcripts of juvenile records must be reviewed and approved by the juvenile court judge. Therefore, you may not be able to view a record on the same day you make the request.

Instructions for Inspection and/or Release of Juvenile Orders

Juvenile Court Forms

If you are requesting to view or get copies of the record and you are not one of the individuals above, you must complete the Request to Inspect Juvenile Court Records PDF Document and file it in the Juvenile Court.