804.03.Persons before whom depositions may be taken.

Within the United States, or a territory or insular possession under its dominion, depositions must be taken before someone authorized to administer oaths under federal law, Wisconsin law, or the law of the place of examination, or before a person the court appoints, who then has power to administer oaths and take testimony. In a foreign country, a deposition may proceed on notice before someone locally authorized to administer oaths, before a person the court commissions with the same oath and testimony powers, or under a letter rogatory addressed to the appropriate authority in the named country; neither method requires showing the other is impractical, and both can be used in the same case. Evidence obtained through a letter rogatory is not excluded merely because it is not a verbatim transcript, was not taken under oath, or otherwise departs from the usual requirements for depositions taken within the United States.

No deposition may be taken before someone who is a party to the action, a relative, employee, attorney, or counsel of a party, a relative or employee of that attorney or counsel, or someone financially interested in the case. The same disqualification reaches anyone under a court-reporting services contract, unless that contract is limited to a particular action or incident, though it does not reach a person who records or transcribes depositions for a public agency.

An oath can be administered to a remotely located individual using audio-visual equipment, as long as the officer administering it is in simultaneous communication with all parties, and that counts as an oath given before a court reporter. A Wisconsin-qualified court reporter located in the state may administer the oath remotely as long as they can see, hear, and identify the witness; if the witness is located outside Wisconsin, the witness may consent to being sworn remotely by a court reporter qualified to administer oaths in Wisconsin.