March 3, 2010 – Most of us rely on documents produced by the judicial branch of our state government. We regularly look online for access to CCAP, the opinions of the supreme and appellate courts, court forms, and even the Attorney Discipline Compendium. We also appreciate the availability of primary legislative documents such as pending bills, prior legislation and statutes. However, there is an abundance of state documents that we may not realize can be found online. This article will highlight a miscellany of those items. Future articles will include additional web sites.
Real property
• Wisconsin Property Assessment Manual – The guide was written to ensure uniform assessment of Wisconsin property. The three-volume set is available online in a searchable format. Each chapter is a separate .pdf file. To browse the manual, double click on a specific chapter. To search the entire document, click on the binoculars and select the “entire .pdf package” option.
• Real estate transfer search – The Department of Revenue supports a statewide real estate transfer return database. The user chooses the “RETR Search” tab, agrees to the conditions, and begins searching. Query options include municipality, address, county, or advanced. The advanced search allows the researcher to select a variety of criteria including date recorded, predominant use, and acreage. The results can then be sorted by a specified field. The final document identifies the seller, buyer, recording information, fees, parcel data, and physical description.
Administrative hearings and appeals
• Division of Hearings and Appeals – Certain decisions issued by the Division of Hearings and Appeals are available on this Web site. They are categorized by year, but the site does offer a search option. Researchers can locate appeal decisions from the Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, Medicaid divestment cases, and medical assistance.
• Special Education Complaints and Due Process – Due process hearings filed under Wis. Stat. §115.80 or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are indexed by year issued. IDEA state complaints are also available online. Complaints are listed by year, and include summaries of the issues addressed.
• Tax Appeals Commission – The State Bar of Wisconsin legal research tab on WisBar.org includes an option to search tax appeal commission decisions back to 1999. The default is a chronological listing. Selecting the “advanced search” option permits the researcher to query by keyword, docket number, date, or party name.
• PECFA appeals – The Department of Commerce maintains a Web site that lists several Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award (PECFA) appeals. The Web site clearly states that not all decisions are made available on site. The department selected only ones they considered substantive. Form decisions are usually not included.
Finance
• Interpretive letters – A selection of banking interpretive letters issued by the Department of Finance can be found online. The letters go back to 1969 and cover a range of issues.
• Administrative orders – “Administrative orders are those orders issued by the department [Finance] affecting a certificate or license previously granted by the department and held by an individual or entity. Administrative orders are also those orders issued by the department directing an individual or entity, whether or not holding a certificate or license, to take or refrain from certain actions.” The orders are segregated by financial services, mortgage banking, and securities.
Bev Butula is the manager of library of services at Davis & Kuelthau, Milwaukee. She is a past president of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin. Bev has written articles and spoken to numerous groups on issues such as effective Internet research, evaluation of Web sites and legal research. Prior to obtaining her Master's Degree in Library Science from UWM, Bev was a litigation paralegal.
• Related: Learn about Fastcase free legal research for State Bar members
