Manitowoc County Court Records Lookup

The following is for information purposes only

Manitowoc County was created in 1836 prior to Wisconsin's statehood and incorporated in 1848. It is made up of 3 cities, 18 towns, and 7 villages and has a population of 81,242 people while its county seat is the City of Manitowoc. The Circuit Court and Municipal Courts are trial courts exercising authority in tackling a variety of court cases in Manitowoc County.

The circuit court is located in the county courthouse in Manitowoc. It is in the 4th judicial district and judges are elected to a six-year term. Circuit Court is a jury trial and higher-level court whose jurisdiction lies in adjudicating civil, criminal, family, traffic, juvenile, and probate cases. There are 4 Municipal Courts and they have exclusive jurisdiction over all traffic and municipal violation cases. They handle cases of animal control violations, parking violations, building code violations, truancies, curfew violations, and minor offenses. They are located in the City of Kiel, Manitowoc, Two Rivers, and the Village of Cleveland.

The public can search court records on the Wisconsin Court System website or at the office of the Circuit Court Clerk or courthouse in Manitowoc County. Court records such as civil, criminal, family, and small claims are available to the public. However, juvenile, adoption, guardianship, and civil commitment records are not available to the public and are limited to parties involved in the cases, and their legal representatives. Adoption, guardianship, and civil commitment court records can be obtained by authorized persons through the probate office. The Circuit Court caseload summary for 2023 recorded a total of 33,220 cases while the circuit court case disposition summary can be found here. According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, a report of a total of 3,884 arrest cases occurred in 2022 based on violent crimes, property crimes, society crimes, drug crimes, and other crimes. According to another report, in 2022, the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population was 188 in Manitowoc County.

The Manitowoc Court System which includes the Circuit and Municipal Courts represents the people, upholds the rule of law, and protects the rights of the community by approaching the resolution of disputes fairly and efficiently. The public has easy and smooth access to court records in Manitowoc County. Electronic access to court records provides a gateway to inspect court records using search criteria such as party type, name, case type, and attorney name thereby allowing the public to exercise the right to freedom of information.