Wisconsin injunctions: the judge may telephone the other side before signing

Wisconsin procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026

Wisconsin's injunction chapter reads differently from the Rule 65 most states copied. It abolishes the old writ, keeps a set of nineteenth-century remedies, and adds one very modern instruction: pick up the phone.

The court may call the party you want restrained

Section 813.02(1)(b):

Prior to granting a temporary injunction or temporary restraining order, the court may attempt to contact the party sought to be restrained, or his or her counsel if known, by telephone and allow all parties to be heard on the equities between the parties, the availability of other remedies, the damages which may be sustained if the temporary injunction or restraining order is granted, and other relevant matters.

Four subjects the court may canvass on that call, and they are the whole of an injunction argument: the equities, other available remedies, the damages an order would cause, and anything else relevant.

This is discretionary, not mandatory. But it changes how an application should be prepared. A lawyer walking into an ex parte hearing in Wisconsin should be ready for opposing counsel to be on the line, and should have an answer on other remedies and on the harm the order will cause — not only on the harm it prevents.

If you are the party who gets that call, treat it as the hearing it is. It may be the only chance to be heard before the order issues.

Apply in the wrong circuit and the order is void

Section 813.02(4) attaches a jurisdictional condition most states leave to ordinary venue practice:

No temporary restraining order or injunction shall be issued by any judge or court in any action where it does not appear that the county where the application for such temporary restraining order or injunction is made is within the judicial circuit in which is located the county that is the proper place of trial of the action, and no temporary restraining order or injunction shall issue unless the residence of each defendant is stated if known. Any temporary restraining order or injunction issued in violation of this subsection shall be void.

Two requirements and one consequence.

The application has to be made within the judicial circuit containing the proper place of trial. Not the same county — the same circuit.

And the residence of each defendant must be stated if known. A small pleading requirement with a large sanction attached.

"Shall be void" — not voidable, not subject to being set aside on motion. An order that fails either condition is a nullity, which matters most to the party relying on it.

Statutes can be enjoined, but not by a commissioner, and not for long

Section 813.025 fences off orders against the state:

No circuit or supplemental court commissioner may issue any injunction or order suspending or restraining the enforcement or execution of any statute of the state or of any order of an administrative officer, board, department, commission or other state agency purporting to be made pursuant to the statutes of the state. If so issued, the injunction or order shall be void.

Where a court hears such an application, notice to the attorney general is required, and a restraining order granted before that hearing is short-lived: it "shall be effective only for 5 days unless extended after notice and hearing thereon, or upon written consent of the parties," and can never outlast the determination of the interlocutory injunction application.

The appellate consequence runs the other way:

If a circuit court or a court of appeals enters an injunction, a restraining order, or any other final or interlocutory order suspending or restraining the enforcement of any statute of this state, the injunction, restraining order, or other final or interlocutory order is immediately appealable as a matter of right.

No petition for leave, no waiting for a final judgment. An order against a statute goes up immediately.

Prisoner cases: notice, or the order is void

Where the injunction concerns prison or jail conditions, section 813.02(1)(c) sets three conditions. Notice and an opportunity to be heard must go to the attorney general or the attorney for the local institution and "to all other interested parties," and:

Any injunction issued without giving notice and an opportunity to be heard is void.

The court "shall give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or on the operation of the facility," and the order has an outside date:

Any temporary injunction issued under this paragraph shall expire no later than 90 days after the day the temporary injunction is issued unless the court makes a finding that the requirements under s. 813.40 (1) (b) are met and makes the order final before the expiration of the 90-day period.

After the answer, the route changes

Section 813.05(1):

An injunction shall not be allowed after the defendant shall have answered, unless upon notice or upon an order to show cause; but in such case the defendant may be restrained until the decision of the court or judge granting or refusing the injunction.

Once an answer is on file the ex parte route closes — but the second clause preserves the practical remedy. The defendant "may be restrained until the decision," so a plaintiff who needs protection while the motion is briefed is not left without it.

Section 813.08 offers the same shape at the front end: the court "may, before granting the injunction, make an order requiring cause to be shown why the injunction should not be granted, and the defendant may in the meantime be restrained."

Sunday, holidays, and exigency

Section 813.04 closes a gap that catches out-of-state practitioners:

The injunction may be granted at any time before judgment upon its appearing satisfactorily to the court or judge, by the complaint or answer or by affidavit that sufficient grounds exist therefor. A copy of the pleading or affidavit on which granted must be served with the injunction unless previously served. In case of exigency an injunction may be granted and may be served on Sunday or on a legal holiday.

Note the service requirement in the middle: the pleading or affidavit the order rests on goes with the order. The restrained party is entitled to see the papers, not merely the injunction.

The bond, and the offer that caps the damages fight

A bond is ordinarily required. Section 813.06 directs the court to require one "in all other proceedings except proceedings under ss. 813.12, 813.122, 813.125 and 823.113" — the harassment and domestic abuse provisions — and adds a filing duty:

Copies of such bond, affidavit or other pleading shall be served upon the party enjoined and the officer serving the same shall, within 8 days after such service, file his or her return in the office of the clerk of the court.

Then section 813.07 supplies a mechanism that will look familiar to anyone who has used Wisconsin's offer of settlement practice. On an assessment of damages caused by an injunction, the defendant may be required to serve a bill of particulars, and:

The plaintiff or the sureties may within 10 days after such service offer in writing to permit the court or referee to assess the defendant's damages at a specified sum together with the costs of such proceeding incurred up to the time of such offer. If such offer be not accepted in writing within 5 days after it is made, it shall be considered withdrawn, and cannot be given in evidence. If the defendant fails to obtain a more favorable assessment of damages, the defendant cannot recover costs, but must pay the costs of the opposite party from the time of the offer.

Ten days to make the offer, five to accept, and cost-shifting against a defendant who turns down an offer and does no better. A withdrawn offer "cannot be given in evidence," so a rejected number does not follow the parties into the assessment.

A short checklist

If you are applying:

Check the circuit before you file. An order issued outside it is void.
State each defendant's residence if you know it. The same subsection voids orders that do not.
Be ready for a telephone hearing on the equities, other remedies and the damage an order would do.
Serve the pleading or affidavit with the order.
Arrange the bond, unless yours is one of the harassment or abuse proceedings that are exempt.
If you are enjoining a statute, give notice to the attorney general and expect a five-day order.

If you are restrained:

Take the call. It may be your only hearing before the order issues.
Check the circuit and the residence statement — both are void-making defects.
In a prisoner case, check that notice was given. Without it the injunction is void.
Weigh any offer under s. 813.07 carefully. Refuse one and do no better, and you pay costs from the date it was made.

Where these rules live

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the harassment and domestic abuse injunction statutes in ss. 813.12 to 813.125 have their own procedures that this site does not carry.

How this guide is sourced. Every procedural statement here is drawn from the text of the rules named above, each of which is reproduced verbatim on its own page on this site. Quoted rule language appears in quotation marks or block quotes; everything else is original writing. Last verified August 17, 2026.

This page explains what the rules say. It is legal information, not legal advice, and it cannot tell you how a rule applies to your situation. Deadlines are often short and some are not extendable — if the outcome matters, talk to a lawyer or your court’s self-help center.