Law Changes Impacting State and Local Finance

​​December 19, 2025

To: Certified Assessors, Assessor List, Municipal Clerks and Treasurers, County Clerks and Treasurers
Real Property Listers, Registers of Deeds, Heads of Government, and Tribes

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), State and Local Finance Division, would like to inform you of local government bills recently signed into state law. For each act listed below, we are providing the state laws impacted with a summary of the change, the effective date, and the applicable contact information.

Changed Judicial Officer Privacy Laws

Definitions

• Amends sec. 757.07 (1) (a) 12., Wis. Stats., and what is excluded from the definition of data broker:
• Law enforcement agencies or law enforcement support organizations and vendors that provide data support services to law enforcement agencies
• Law enforcement support organizations does not include charitable organizations
• Creates sec. 757.07 (1) (am), Wis. Stats., and defines designated officer:
• An officer or employee of a government agency in a position designated in writing by the government agency to fulfill its duties under this section
• In the absence of a written designation, designated officer means the highest ranking officer or employee for the government agency
• Renumbers sec. 757.07 (1) (g), Wis. Stats., with amendments and creations to the definition of personal information for a judicial officer or any immediate family member of a judicial officer:
• Amends 1. a.: A home address, when directly associated with or displayed with a judicial officer's name
• Amends 1. g.: The identificationnames of children under the age of 18 of a judicial officer or an immediate family member of a judicial officer
• Creates 2m.: Personal information does not include addresses without owner or occupant names associated with the address on public facing land records websites for address verification, including for utilities and emergency services
• Creates sec. 757.07 (1) (im), Wis. Stats., and defines secondary residence as not a permanent residence, where a person regularly lives at least 14 days each year

Use and Sharing of Judicial Officer's Personal Information

• Amends sec. 19.36 (15), Wis. Stats., and does not allow access under sec. 19.35 (1), Wis. Stats., to the written requests and consent to release forms prescribed by the director of state courts under sec. 757.07 (4), Wis. Stats.
• Amends sec. 19.55 (2) (cm), Wis. Stats., and allows public inspection of a judicial officer's lobbying information with the Ethics Commission
• Amends sec. 59.43 (1r), Wis. Stats., and limits the application of a judicial officer's written request to electronic recorded documents at the register of deeds
• Amends sec. 757.07 (3), Wis. Stats., and allows a business to transfer protected information if the business meets one of the exceptions under sec. 757.07 (1) (a), Wis. Stats., and the transferred information would not be publicly posted or displayed
• Amends sec. 757.07 (4) (e) 2., Wis. Stats., and allows five additional instances for releasing personal information subject to the written request:
• If the personal information is in a record that a government agency provides to any other government agency, if the record is not made publicly available:
• A government agency that provides a record to another government agency shall provide all applicable written requests and notice to the judicial officer of the transmission as indicated on officer's written request
• Upon receipt of any written request, the agency shall be considered to have received the written request
• If the release is part of the publication of a notice, administrative hearing or appeal, that is required by law
• If the release is to a title insurance company, as defined in s. 708.15 (1) (v), an authorized agent of a title insurance company, a land surveyor licensed in this state, or an attorney licensed in this state if the record is not made publicly available
• If the release is to adjacent land owners seeking land records if the record is not made publicly available
• If the release is a notice of sex offender registration or any associated notice relating to sex offender registration
• Amends sec. 757.07 (4m), Wis. Stats., and land records website information:
• Definition of land records website: a public website or a public land records database linked from such a website that allows users to search and retrieve a real estate property database or geographic records, but does not include the register of deeds index
• Judicial officers must submit a written request to opt out from the display and search functions of a land records website. Immediate family members of a judicial officer may not opt out.
• A provider of a land records website with the opt out process does not violate the judicial privacy law by displaying an address if:
• Name is removed
• Link between the name and address is severed
• Precludes a search and retrieval that displays name

Judicial Officer's Written Request

• Amends sec. 757.07 (4), Wis. Stats., and the judicial officer's written request
• Must identify with reasonable specificity the judicial officer's personal information for protection
• Submit directly to a government agency's designated officer as defined by sec. 757.07 (1) (am), Wis. Stats.
• May contain no more than two secondary residences
• Requires both written requests and consents to release personal information be notarized and kept confidential
• Expires within 90 days for a property when the property is no longer a permanent or secondary residence
• Each quarter, the director of state courts provides agency designated officers with a list of all judicial officers who submitted a written request. The designated officers provide a copy to agencies they supervise.

Other Changes

• Various creations and amendments to sec. 757.07 (5), Wis. Stats., and the violations section of judicial privacy
• Creates sec. 757.07 (5m), Wis. Stats., judicial officer privacy laws supersede state laws that require a government agency publicly post or display publicly available content
  

Effective date – August 10, 2025

Additional information – see the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Public Records Compliance Guide for open records information, exceptions, and the associated state laws

Questions – contact opengov@widoj.gov

Tampering With Telecommunication or Electric Wires and Providing a Penalty

Amends sec. 941.40 (1), 941.40 (2), 941.40 (3), 941.40 (4) (b), Wis. Stats.

• Prohibits taking various actions with respect to the property of any video service, broadband service, or wireless service company: intentionally removing or changing any building or other structure or any timber to which any video service, broadband service, or wireless service company lines or wires are in any manner attached, or causing the same to be done and consequently destroying, disturbing, or injuring the wires, poles, or other property of any video service, broadband service, or wireless service company, without first giving the company, at its office nearest the place of injury, at least 24 hours' notice
• Increases certain penalties for violating some of these prohibitions

Effective date – August 10, 2025

Prohibits recording contracts for services or materials that do not improve real estate

Creates 710.27, Wis. Stats.,

• Defines non-improvement contract:
• (1) the contract requires a person to agree to perform, furnish, or procure any work, labor, service, materials, plans, or specifications that are not used or consumed for the improvement of real estate; and
• (2) the contract purports to create a lien, encumbrance, or other security interest on real estate
• If a person files or records a non-improvement contract or related document, the owner of the affected real estate may bring a civil action
• Identifies six exclusions from the general prohibition on filing or recording a non-improvement contract or related instrument

Effective date – this act first applies to an instrument that is filed or recorded with a register of deeds on the effective date of this subsection or August 10, 2025

Expenditure Restraint Incentive Program (ERIP)

Creates an exclusion when determining eligibility for an ERIP payment

• Amended sec. 79.05 (2) (c), Wis. Stats., and excludes amounts levied, due to increases in assessed charges by a joint fire / joint emergency medical services district that are exempt from local levy limits, from being considered in determining eligibility for an expenditure restraint incentive program payment

Effective date – October 23, 2025

Additional information – see DOR's ERIP program paper

Questions – contact lgs@wisconsin.gov

Real Estate Transfer Fee Exemption

Fee exemption for transfers between grandparents and grandchildren

• Amended sec. 77.25 (8), Wis. Stats., to exempt conveyances between grandparent and grandchild for nominal or no consideration

Effective date – November 1, 2025

Additional information – select "Conveyance Type: Parent/child – gift" until the Real Estate Transfer Return (RETR) is updated with the new exemption. See DOR's Real Estate Transfer Return page.

Questions – contact DORERealEstateTransfer@wisconsin.gov

Transfer on Death

Revoking a transfer of real property on death, obtaining evidence of the termination of a decedent's property interests, disbursing deposits after rescission of real property wholesaler contracts, and filing satisfactions of judgment

• Renumbered sec. 705.15 (3), Wis. Stats., as 705.15 (3) (a) (intro.), Wis. Stats., and amended; created secs. 705.15 (3) (a) 1. and 2., Wis. Stats., a document designating a TOD beneficiary may be revoked only by an instrument that is subsequently acknowledged by the owner and submitted for recording to the office of the register of deeds, and that is (1) a document designating a TOD beneficiary, (2) an instrument that expressly revokes the document designating a TOD beneficiary, or (3) an inter vivos deed containing an express revocation clause
• Created secs. 705.15 (3) (b) and (c), Wis. Stats., if a document designating a TOD beneficiary is made by more than one owner, (1) revocation by one owner does not affect the document designating a TOD beneficiary as to the interest of another owner and (2) if real property is owned by two or more individuals as joint tenants or by spouses as survivorship marital property, a document designating a TOD beneficiary of that property is revoked only if it is revoked by all of the living joint tenants or spouses
• Amended sec. 710.13 (3) (title), Wis. Stats., and creates sec. 710.13 (3) (c), Wis. Stats., if the third party rescinds the contract, a person holding deposits or option fees may disburse the deposits or option fees to the third party without any liability on the person's part. If the seller rescinds the purchase agreement, a person holding deposits or option fees may disburse the deposits or option fees to the seller without any liability on the person's part
• Repealed and recreated sec. 806.22 (title), Wis. Stats., renumbered sec. 806.22, Wis. Stats., as sec. 806.22 (1) (intro.) and amended; created secs. 806.22 (1) (a) to (c), Wis. Stats., an original satisfaction signed and acknowledged by the owner or the owner's attorney may be filed in those other counties, rather than the evidence of satisfaction obtained from the clerk of court in the county where the judgment was first docketed
• Amended secs. 867.045 (1) (j), and 867.046 (2) (i), Wis. Stats., allows a person to submit a copy of the most recent property tax bill as evidence to the register of deeds that a decedent's property interests in real property have been terminated

Effective date – December 11, 2025

Additional information – see DOR's Transfer on Death Common Questions

Questions – contact DORERealEstateTransfer@wisconsin.gov

Local Government

Time limits on local unit of government chief executive officer emergency power proclamations

• Renumbered sec. 323.14 (4) (b), Wis. Stats., as sec. 323.14 (4) (b) 2., Wis. Stats., and amended: creates a 60 day limit for the local government's chief executive officer emergency proclamation unless extended by the local governing body.
• Created sec. 323.14 (4) (b) 1., Wis. Stats., defines “chief executive officer" as any of the following: 1) the county executive of a county, the county administrator of a county, or, in a county with an administrative coordinator, the county board chair of a county; 2) the mayor or city manager of a city; 3) the village president or village manager of a village; 4) the town board chairperson of a town; or 5) a person acting as one of the above stated persons

Effective date – December 11, 2025

Questions – contact Wisconsin Emergency Management dmawempio@widma.gov

County Forest Administration Grants

Changes to grant eligibility and defines county forest administrator

• Renumbered sec. 28.11 (5m) (a), Wis. Stats., as sec. 28.11 (5m) (a) 2., Wis. Stats., and amended: grants may be used to fund 50 percent of the salary and fringe benefits of a county forest administrator
• Created sec. 28.11 (5m) (a) 1., Wis. Stats., defines “county forest administrator" as a person, excluding a person employed by DNR, who is employed to manage a county forest program and who has any of the following qualifications: 1. A bachelor's or higher degree in forestry from a school of forestry with a curriculum accredited by the Society of American Foresters or an equivalent degree, as determined by the chief state forester. 2. A bachelor's or higher degree in natural resources, conservation, or wildlife and three or more years of experience managing a county forest program. 3. An associate degree in forestry and three or more years of experience managing a county forest program.

Effective date – first applies to an application for a grant under sec. 28.11 (5m) (a) 2., Wis. Stats., submitted on the effective date of this subsection – January 1, 2025

Additional information – see the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) County Forest Administration Grant page

Questions – contact the appropriate regional DNR grant staff

Local Government Approving Subdivisions of Land

Changes to the plat review process

• Amended secs. 236.01, and 236.45 (1), Wis. Stats., changes to legislative purpose statements related to state and local regulation of the subdivision of land
• Created sec. 236.105, Wis. Stats., requires political subdivisions to provide a subdivider with the opportunity to meet for a nonbinding, pre-submission review.
• Amended sec. 236.11 (1) (a), Wis. Stats., and created sec. 236.11 (1) (d), Wis. Stats., allows subdividers to submit preliminary plans and reports regarding water, sewer, road cross-sections, grading stormwater, soil testing, landscaping, and street lighting for review. A political subdivision cannot reject preliminary plans on the basis that the plans are preliminary, and are allowed to approve preliminary plans with written conditions.
• Amended sec. 236.13 (2) (am) 1. a., Wis. Stats., the political subdivision may not require the installation or acceptance of public improvements as a condition to submitting, reviewing, approving, or recording a preliminary or final plat. Allows political subdivisions to require the subdivider to agree to install public improvements reasonably necessary and provide financial security to ensure the improvements are made within a reasonable time after the plat is approved.
• Amended 236.13 (2) (am) 3. b., Wis. Stats., any outstanding local building permits for each home site on the plat that meet the requirements of applicable building codes, zoning ordinances, and other regulations must be released upon the substantial completion of the public improvements, and cannot be withheld solely due to the status of the public improvements
• Amended sec. 236.25 (1), Wis. Stats., the clerk of the body that has the authority to review the plat must make a certification of the approval on the face of the plat within 10 days of the subdivider submitting the plat with all the required certificates and affidavits. A preliminary plat that has obtained the required approvals or is deemed approved is entitled to be recorded with the register of deeds.

Effective date – secs. 236.11 (1) (a) and (d) and 236.13 (2) (am) 1. a., Wis. Stats., first applies to a plat submitted on the effective date of this subsection – the first day of the 7 month after publication or July 1, 2026

Additional information – see the Wisconsin Department of Administration's (DOA) plat review. Contact DOA's plat.review@wisconsin.gov

Town Government

Town clerk and treasurer appointments

• Amended sec. 60.10 (1) (b) 2m., Wis. Stats., allows a town of any size to move from an elected position to an appointed one by a vote of the electors at a town meeting
• Amended sec. 60.30 (1e) (f), Wis. Stats., a town may move to an appointed clerk, treasurer, or combined clerk and treasurer position during an elected term when there is a vacancy in the position
• Renumbered sec. 60.305 (4) (a), Wis. Stats., as sec. 60.305 (4) (a) 1., Wis. Stats., and created sec. 60.305 (4) (a) 2., Wis. Stats., allows the town board to provide that the combination of offices takes effect immediately as both positions become vacant or, if the person appointed to the combined office holds one of the offices to be combined, immediately upon a vacancy in the other office to be combined
• Amended secs. 60.331 and 60.341, Wis. Stats.,: town treasurers and clerks may appoint one or more deputies. The deputy town clerks and deputy town treasurers need not be residents of the town.

Publication requirements for proposed budget summary and notice of public hearing

• Repealed sec. 65.90 (3) (a) 1., Wis. Stats., changes the publication and notice requirements for towns with respect to the public hearing regarding the town's proposed budget eliminates the limitation on how towns must provide the summary and notice, instead allowing towns the same options as cities and villages.

Discontinuance of highways

• Amended sec. 82.19 (2) (a), Wis. Stats., eliminates the travel exception from consideration by a town board in determining whether a highway has ceased to be a public highway

Effective date – December 11, 2025

Additional information – see the Wisconsin Towns Association FAQs and information library

Questions – contact Wisconsin Towns Association