767.16.Circuit court commissioner or law partner; when interested; procedure.
Subch. II: Provisions of General Application · Last amended 2005 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026
Full Text of Section 767.16
Official Notes
Wisconsin prints certain labelled notes with the statute — effective-date notes, cross-references, and notes of the Judicial Council. They are reproduced verbatim below. The unlabelled digest of court decisions that the Legislative Reference Bureau prints after them is annotation rather than statute, and is not reproduced.
NOTE: 2005 Wis. Act 443 contains explanatory notes.
Amendment History
Wisconsin prints each section’s legislative history as a single “History” line naming every act that created or amended it, and every renumbering. It is reproduced verbatim below.
History: 1979 c. 32 ss. 50, 92 (4); 1979 c. 176; 1979 c. 352 s. 39; Stats. 1979 s. 767.16; 2001 a. 61; 2005 a. 443.
Plain-English Summary
A conflict rule, and a practical one. A circuit court commissioner who assists in matters affecting the family, or a member of that commissioner's law firm, may not appear in any action affecting the family in any court held in the county where the commissioner acts.
Wisconsin's circuit court commissioners are often practising lawyers, so the prohibition matters: the person who may decide a family motion in the morning cannot be the advocate in another family case in the same county in the afternoon, and neither can their partners.
The section then provides for the case where the commissioner or their firm is interested in a family action and no other commissioner is available, so that the conflict does not simply stall the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Wisconsin court commissioner also practise family law?
Not in the same county. A circuit court commissioner assisting in matters affecting the family, or a member of the commissioner's law firm, may not appear in any action affecting the family in any court held in that county.
Does the bar cover the commissioner's partners?
Yes. It applies to a member of the commissioner's law firm as well as to the commissioner.
What happens if the commissioner is interested in the case?
The section provides a procedure for that situation, so a conflict does not leave the action without a commissioner.