Dane County Circuit Court Branches

The Dane County Circuit Court

Wisconsin has one trial court of general jurisdiction, the Circuit Court, and the Dane County Circuit Court is its local branch. It handles felony and misdemeanor crimes, civil suits, family cases, probate, small claims, traffic, forfeiture, and lien matters. All of its branches use the Dane County Courthouse at 215 South Hamilton Street in Madison, with the main Clerk number at (608) 266-4311.

The court's case records flow through the Clerk of Circuit Court and appear on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. To follow a case, you search WCCA and then ask the Clerk for documents. To reach a specific branch, the judge directory lists each room and phone. The court keeps the same weekday hours as the rest of the courthouse, 7:45 AM to 4:30 PM.

General jurisdiction means the Circuit Court can hear almost any kind of case unless a law sends it elsewhere. A single courthouse holds felony and misdemeanor trials, divorce and custody cases, estate and guardianship matters, eviction and small claims actions, and traffic and forfeiture cases. That breadth is why so many different records trace back to this one court, and why the case-type code on a file matters when you search. Dane County's role as the state capital also brings statewide administrative, election, and government cases into its courtrooms.

Dane County Circuit Court Branches and Judges

The Dane County Circuit Court has 17 branches, each with its own judge, room, and phone. Judges are listed in branch order and take part in a rotation plan for case assignment, with new rotation orders effective August 1 of odd-numbered years. Because of that rotation, do not assume a judge permanently hears one case type. The table lists the branches.

The judge directory is the official source and includes fax numbers and weekly calendars.

The Dane County judges page lists all branches, judges, rooms, phones, and weekly calendars.

To learn which branch holds a case, search it on WCCA and read the court official and hearing entries. The branch number and room point you to the right courtroom for a hearing. Because assignments rotate, the safest move is to trust the current docket rather than a memory of who handled a case last year. The weekly calendars on the judges page also help if you want to see what a branch has scheduled.

Circuit Court Commissioners

Court commissioners support the Circuit Court judges. They handle many early or specialized matters, such as initial appearances, bail settings, small claims, family scheduling, and other duties the court assigns. A docket may list a commissioner rather than a judge for these steps, which is normal in a court the size of Dane County.

The official commissioners page lists the contacts.

The circuit court commissioners page provides official commissioner contact information. When a case summary shows a commissioner as the court official, the case is often at an early or scheduling stage.

The Wisconsin Court Hierarchy

The Circuit Court is the trial level, but it is one rung on a ladder. Above it, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reviews circuit court rulings, and Dane County falls in District IV, based in Madison. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the top state court. Below the Circuit Court, municipal courts handle city and village ordinance cases. The state court system page explains the whole structure.

The Wisconsin Court System overview describes the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Circuit Court. The circuit courts page covers the trial level in more depth.

The Wisconsin Circuit Courts page describes circuit-court jurisdiction and administration.

Circuit Court Versus Municipal Court

Two trial-level courts serve Dane County residents, and they handle different work. The comparison below shows the split so you know where a case belongs.

Some municipal-court decisions can be reviewed in Circuit Court. The address on a citation tells you which court has it, so check the ticket before you assume a case is in the Circuit Court.

How a Case Moves Through the System

Most cases follow a clear path from the trial level upward. A criminal or civil case starts in the Circuit Court, which holds the trial and enters the judgment. A party who disagrees can ask the Court of Appeals to review the ruling, and in some cases the Supreme Court takes a further look.

Case flow: Municipal Court › Circuit Court › Court of Appeals › Supreme Court

The Supreme Court does not rehear every case. Many matters reach it only by a petition for review, and it grants review in a limited set of cases. Most Dane County cases begin and end at the Circuit Court level, with the appellate courts reached only when a party seeks review.

Wisconsin's current structure dates to a 1977 court reorganization that voters approved. Before that, the state had two levels of trial courts, county courts and circuit courts. The change made circuit courts the single trial court of general jurisdiction, which is why some older Dane County records carry labels from the earlier system. That history can matter when searching for a very old case.

Federal Court in Dane County

Dane County also sits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The federal courthouse is the Robert W. Kastenmeier U.S. Courthouse at 120 North Henry Street in Madison. Federal cases cover crimes under federal law, civil rights, and suits involving the United States, and they are separate from the state Circuit Court.

The Western District of Wisconsin court information page covers the Madison court and its practice notes. Bankruptcy cases go to a separate federal court in the same building.

The Western District bankruptcy court sits in the Kastenmeier courthouse. Federal records are searched through PACER, not WCCA.

The PACER system handles federal docket and document access, with its own registration and fees. Federal prosecutions in the district are led by the U.S. Attorney.

A February 2026 announcement named a new U.S. Attorney for the Western District, which covers Dane County.

The federal courthouse has its own history. The building was constructed in 1984 and later named for former U.S. Representative Robert W. Kastenmeier, and Congress created the Western District back in 1870. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the district covers the western two-thirds of Wisconsin, 44 counties in all, including Dane. For most residents, though, the state Circuit Court is the court they deal with, and the federal court matters only when a case arises under federal law.

Appeals From Dane County

An appeal from the Dane County Circuit Court goes to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV, headquartered in Madison. The Court of Appeals mostly hears mandatory appeals from circuit court decisions. From there, a party may petition the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which chooses the cases it reviews.

Appellate case information is searched through a separate state system, not WCCA. For the trial-level records that lead up to an appeal, the court records and court dockets pages explain how to find a case and read its timeline. Because Madison is the state capital, the Court of Appeals District IV and the Supreme Court both have a strong presence downtown, near the same Capitol Square where the Circuit Court sits.

Related Dane County Searches

Continue with Dane County court records, court dockets, the Clerk of Circuit Court, or probate records.