Dane County Clerk of Courts

Those entering the courthouse with a prohibited item will be asked to remove the item from the courthouse prior to conducting business inside the building.

An example of a prohibited item in the courthouse is any of the following:

Guns, knives, ammunition, facsimile weapons, explosives, Taser, martial arts weapons, baton, pepper spray, brass knuckles, needle-nose pliers, screw drivers, drill bits, wrenches, construction nails, box cutter, nail punch, chisel, putty knife, hammer, bike tools, sharp kitchen utensils, skateboard, bicycle, metal darts, scissors, drugs (other than your prescription), and alcohol.

This list is not all inclusive. Weapon screeners may use discretion to disallow any other item into the courthouse that is believed could be a safety and security issue.

• Documents requiring the signature of a court official must include a blank 3" top margin on page 1 and a blank 1/2" top margin on all subsequent pages. Court software will place the court official's electronic signature in the heftier margin on the first page, along with the filed stamp and a header containing the case number, document number, filed date, and pagination. The header will be applied to the top 1/2" of all pages of documents filed with the courts, whether or not a court official signature is necessary. More information can be found on the Wisconsin Court System website regarding the Wisconsin eFiling Update.
• You are required to file copies of documents instead of originals. Keep all originals, as the court may ask to inspect them at a later time. This new policy prevents original documents from being shredded after scanning into our electronic record-keeping system. More information can be found on the Wisconsin Court System website regarding Protection of information (redaction, confidentiality, sealing).
• The eFiling system will permit filings received by 11:59 pm on a particular business day to be stamped as filed on that day.  The same will hold true for non-eFilers who submit filings via fax.  Remember that only filings that have no associated filing fee and are fifteen or fewer pages in length are permitted to be submitted by fax.
• To request to convert an existing case to an eFiled case, please fax your request to the attention of Jeff Okazaki at (608) 266-9286, or send via U.S. mail.  Cases may take several days to convert to an eFiled case depending on the location of the physical file, its age and the number of documents that will be required to scan into the case prior to conversion.
• When submitting a new eFiled case, if any party will need an interpreter, please make sure to check that an interpreter is needed and select the appropriate language in the party screen.

 

Seeking GAL Project Attorneys

Dane County is seeking lawyers interested in contracting with Dane County to provide Guardian ad Litem services in CHIPS, TPR, guardianship and paternity cases. If interested, please submit a letter of interest, specifying qualifications and experience (including trial work) to:

Jeff Okazaki
Dane County Clerk of Courts
Dane County Courthouse
215 S. Hamilton Street, Room 1000
Madison WI 53703-3285
Or Email: Shelly.Maas@wicourts.gov 

Attorneys in the Guardian ad Litem project are paid a flat monthly rate to act in a pre-determined number of cases as outlined in the GAL Project MOU.

Participation in the GAL Project MOU will begin immediately.

A copy of the GAL Project MOU is available upon request. 

If questions, please contact 
GAL Project Liaison, Attorney Eve Dennison Pollock at (608) 833-7799 
Chief Deputy Clerk of Courts, Shelly Maas at (608) 266-4288

* * * Deadline to apply is May 1, 2026 * * *
 

Dane County Law Library - Open to walk-in service for forms and copies 8:30-4:30 Monday-Friday

Legal Assistance Programs are available at the Dane County Courthouse.

For More Information contact:

608-266-6316
Fax: 608-266-5988
dcll.ref@wicourts.gov