Searching Portage County Criminal Dockets
Most people begin with Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. That WCCA site covers filed felony, misdemeanor, and criminal-traffic cases in Portage County. You can search by party name or case number. Pick Portage County and filter to criminal case types if the results feel crowded. Before opening a result, match the filing date. Also match the case type, county, and status. That way you land on the right docket.
When WCCA falls short, call the Portage County Clerk of Circuit Court. Extension 7 handles felony and misdemeanor questions. You can also inspect public records at the clerk counter or a courthouse terminal. One limit to know: WCCA shows no public document images.
- Open WCCA and accept its terms.
- Enter a name or case number.
- Select Portage County and CF, CM, or CT.
- Match the filing date and status.
- Read the full history and latest setting.
Portage Criminal Docket Codes
The case code tells you the route. 2026-CF-#### marks a felony file, while CM means misdemeanor and CT means criminal traffic. FO and TR belong to forfeiture and traffic categories, so they are not criminal codes. Copy the case number exactly as WCCA shows it.
| Code | Docket | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| CF | Felony | Felony prosecution in circuit court |
| CM | Misdemeanor | Misdemeanor circuit case |
| CT | Criminal traffic | Traffic-related criminal case |
Stevens Point and Plover ordinance cases run through the joint municipal court instead. Those records are not online. Nothing from that court will show up in WCCA.
Inside a Portage Criminal Docket
Open a docket and you first see the case number, type, filing date, branch, party roles, attorneys, and status. The dated entries that follow may include the complaint, hearings, motions, a plea, the disposition, sentence, financial activity, and appeal work. Some restricted facts can be withheld from public view.
| Case number | Year, CF, CM, or CT, and sequence. |
|---|---|
| Charges | Public offense descriptions and outcomes. |
| Settings | Date, time, activity, branch, and official. |
| History | Filed events, hearings, orders, and judgment. |
| Disposition | Conviction, dismissal, acquittal, or other result. |
An event line only proves something was recorded. For the filed order or certified judgment, go to the document itself.
Missing Portage Criminal Charges
An arrest or citation does not instantly create a WCCA entry. The case shows up only after the prosecutor files it and the clerk processes the paperwork. For a charge or bond question on a matter not yet filed, the county sends people to the District Attorney at 715-346-1300.
If no case appears: check spelling and venue, allow for processing, then call the office that holds the matter.
A empty result can also point to a municipal, confidential, or sealed case. It never proves that no matter exists.
How a Criminal Case Moves
The circuit record begins at filing. An initial appearance covers the charge, counsel, bond, and the next court date. Felonies may add a preliminary hearing and arraignment before motions, pretrial work, plea or trial, disposition, and sentencing fill out the later entries.
Docket flow: Filing › Initial Appearance › Preliminary Hearing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing.
Few cases hit every stage. A reset moves a date, not the charge or the result, so the latest entries are the ones to trust.
Portage Preliminary Hearing Timing
Under Portage local rules effective January 6, 2025, preliminary hearings generally sit on Mondays at 3:00 p.m. Arraignment follows a bindover or a waiver unless the court resets it.
Why the timing matters takes a little unpacking. A preliminary hearing only tests whether a felony should move forward. It is not a trial and decides no guilt. When arraignment lands that same afternoon, WCCA can show two activity labels on one date. A waiver, adjournment, or reset should each leave its own context in the case history. Trust the newest event over the first setting.
Always check the current case history near the date in question. A court notice and a fresh entry override the general schedule. Some new appearances happen by jail video. For county information about those same-day appearances, Portage asks callers to phone after 10:30 a.m.
Written motions carry their own local rule. The motion must state its grounds. The filer must then contact the assigned court within 24 hours to get a hearing date. The filing and the hearing notice can appear as separate events, so reading both keeps a motion date from being mistaken for its filing date.
Bond entries deserve equal care. After an initial bond, the docket may show a review, payment, return, forfeiture, or changed conditions. The clerk sends accounting and bond-return questions to extension 9. Remember that a financial entry is not the disposition. And an older warrant entry means nothing current unless later history backs it up.
An appeal opens a related AP record in WSCCA, so keep both the circuit number and the appellate number. The Portage circuit history tracks trial-level events. The appellate docket tracks review by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals or Supreme Court. Each record answers a different stretch of the timeline.
Courts That Hold Criminal Dockets
Filed felony, misdemeanor, and criminal-traffic dockets live with the Wisconsin Circuit Court in Portage County, spread across three branches, and Lisa M. Roth's office maintains those records. Local ordinance and municipal-traffic matters belong to the Stevens Point/Plover Joint Municipal Court, whose records never appear in WCCA. Circuit appeals get AP numbers and are searched through WSCCA.
Portage Criminal Docket Outcomes
Each label has a precise meaning. Convicted means a judgment of conviction was entered, while dismissed means the charge ended without conviction on that item. Acquitted records a not-guilty result. Bond forfeiture is a financial consequence, never a conviction.
- Disposition
- The recorded result.
- Restitution
- Money ordered for a crime victim.
- Reset
- An event moved to a later date.
- AP case
- A Wisconsin appellate file.
Later entries can change the meaning of an older plea, warrant, or motion line.
Sealed Dockets and Public Access
Wisconsin Statute section 19.35 guarantees public inspection within legal limits. Protected identifiers, sealed documents, victim data, and juvenile material can all be restricted from view.
Section 801.19 protects listed identifiers. Section 801.20 covers confidential filings. Section 801.21 governs motions to seal or redact.
When every charge ends dismissed or acquitted, WCCA may drop the case from online display after two years. That display rule does not destroy the court file, which still exists.
Portage Docket Versus Case File
A state access FAQ draws a useful line between the two. The case history on WCCA lists public events only. For the papers themselves, the clerk is the office to ask. Complaints, orders, judgments, and transcripts all come from the clerk's public files.
Copies carry set costs. Searching without a case number costs $5. Pages run $1.25 each. Fax delivery adds an optional $5 plus postage. Expect to pay before anything is released. Certification fees change, so ask the clerk for the current figure.
Help the clerk help you. Give the full case number, the party name, and the exact filing you want. Avoid a request for everything at once. A document number lets staff pull a filing fast. It still will not make the document downloadable online. For same-day activity too fresh for a remote docket search, the courthouse kiosk covers the gap. Note that Wisconsin eFiling runs separately from WCCA. Parties file through eCourts authentication, while the public reads the case history.
Track updates with the case number and event date in hand. Reopen the history before any hearing. A Portage County court docket is a chronological index of what was recorded, where the case sits, and its latest public status. When an order's meaning matters, get the order itself from the clerk.
Bridging the online history and the official criminal file takes several routes in Portage County. No home internet? The second-floor Public Access room works. A separate second-floor kiosk lists circuit hearings set that day. Requests by mail, email, fax, or at the counter can pinpoint a complaint, motion, judgment, or order. The clerk phone tree routes felony and misdemeanor questions to extension 7.
A brand-new criminal citation needs a different approach. The Portage County FAQ warns that a case absent from WCCA may simply be waiting on the District Attorney to file it. Call the District Attorney at 715-346-1300. Or reach the clerk after 10:30 a.m. to ask about a new appearance. Appearance times vary, and some defendants appear by jail video. None of these channels alters any duty printed on a citation, bond, or court notice.