Wisconsin Background Check: The Department of Justice Record Check and WORCS

Written by SearchSystems.net from Wisconsin's own systems: the Wisconsin Department of Justice Criminal Background Checks page, the Wisconsin Online Record Check System, the WORCS frequently asked questions, the single name record request form DJ-LE-250, the Department of Justice Criminal History Forms page, the Department of Justice Reading a Criminal Record page, the Department of Justice Challenging a Criminal History Record page, the Department of Health Services Background Checks Program page, the Department of Workforce Development Arrest and Conviction Record page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

What the Centralized Criminal History holds

The Department of Justice page describes the database as detailed information about arrests, prosecutions, court findings, sentences, DNA registrations and Department of Corrections notices such as admissions and releases, every entry tied to an arrest fingerprint card. Fingerprint supported records confirm whether a record in the file belongs to a particular individual, arrests without supporting fingerprints or related dispositions are left out, and the department notes that criminal history may also be obtained from other sources such as the courts or the Department of Corrections. Before requesting a record the department asks readers to study its pages on reading a record, the notice to employers, challenging a record and incorrect information.

Using WORCS

WORCS replaced the older INTCH application. An unregistered public user clicks Submit Request on the Public Access tab, enters the subject's details, pays by credit card or bank information through the USBank payment page and writes down the order reference number from the bottom of the receipt, since that number, entered in Review Results of Prior Search, is the only way back to the result; a registered user logs in, submits from the dashboard, views results as soon as they are complete and sees past requests under View My Requests without paying again. Results are available only for six months from submission and must be resubmitted after that. Organizations register a login account, apply for a billing account that a department team member approves, make payments from the dashboard, and manage users and permissions under Administration. The site's security warning binds every user to state and federal rules on the use of Wisconsin arrest records, and account holders with FBI access may not use public computers and must take security awareness training within six months and annually. From October 1, 2026 the FBI portion of a fingerprint based check rose by $3.00 per search. The FAQ points to the training documentation for anything else.

The mailed request: DJ-LE-250 and DJ-LE-250A

The single name form, revised October 2024, and its multiple name version carry the same instructions. The requester checks one type, government agency, general public or nonprofit organization at $12.00, a public defender with an SPD number fee exempt, or a police certificate at $20.00 with a fingerprint card, and one purpose, general information, public housing, or caregiver with the $8 DHS fee; a nonprofit attaches its IRS 501(c)(3) ruling, and certified results may be requested. The subject's full name, sex, race and date of birth are required, the Social Security number optional but useful because the bureau and the Department of Health Services use it to prevent incorrect matches, and a self addressed postage paid envelope must accompany every inquiry. The form comes back stamped No Record when the bureau holds no public criminal information, or with the public criminal history attached when a record is found; the bureau asks for ten business days plus reasonable mailing time. Payment is by billing account, billed monthly, or a check or money order payable to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, multiplied by the number of names on the multiple form. The statute on the form, Wis. Stat. 165.82, sets $7.00 for each record check other than a fingerprint card check, $15.00 for a fingerprint card record check requested by a governmental agency or nonprofit, a $5 surcharge for a paper copy of results, and no fee for criminal justice purposes. A police certificate is a fingerprint based search of Wisconsin records only, most often for immigration or adoption, and searches of other states go through each state or the FBI.

Caregiver background checks

Entities and individuals required to run caregiver checks under s. 50.065 and child care entities under s. 48.685 check the caregiver box: the check combines the Wisconsin criminal background check with a license and registry check from the Department of Health Services and a professional credential check from the Department of Safety and Professional Services, the DHS and DSPS results returned separately to the address on file there; child day care providers check the child day care box with their facility or certifying agency number. The Department of Health Services requires entities to check employees and contractors with regular and direct contact with clients at hire, on a change in circumstances and at least every four years, through WORCS and the electronic Background Information Disclosure form F-82064, while entity operators, non client residents and rehabilitation review applicants apply through the Division of Quality Assurance's provider portal; certain convictions and findings bar caregiving roles, and others require notice to clients served at home.

Reading a Wisconsin record

The department's reading guide warns never to assume the record returned belongs to the subject searched. The name after the identification label is the master name, the name the fingerprinted person gave the first time their prints reached the bureau, which may not be their real name; other names appear under alias names and fraudulent data, since offenders commonly use aliases and false dates of birth. A submitted name that differs from the master name may mean someone else's record, an alias resembling the name searched does not prove a record, and even an identical master name may belong to another person with the same identifiers. Name based checks use non unique data and can pull up a record that is not the subject's, so the reader compares sex, race, date of birth, height, weight, place of birth and any photograph with what they know, asks the person about inconsistencies, and remembers that a result is current only to the date and time of the search.

Challenging a record and removing fingerprints

A person who believes a request references a different person submits a criminal history challenge to the Crime Information Bureau on form DJ-LE-247 with a completed FD-258 applicant fingerprint card, unfolded, giving full name, sex, race, date of birth, the reason fingerprinted and the official who took the prints; the department charges no fee, though local agencies may charge for fingerprinting. The bureau compares the prints with those of the person who gave a similar name at arrest, and when they differ issues a Wisconsin Unique Personal Identification Number letter, the WiUPIN, which can be included in future search data to strip the challenged arrest or conviction from the result; identity theft at arrest or a near identical name and date of birth is challenged with the Mistaken Identity or False Match option checked. The forms page also holds the DJ-LE-250B request to remove an arrest fingerprint record when the eligibility requirements are met, the qualified entity application under the National Child Protection Act and Volunteers for Children Act, the non criminal justice agency agreement for fingerprint based results, the FBI Privacy Act statement and the waiver that lets an employer, licensing body or volunteer organization search the FBI's Next Generation Identification database. The department cannot give legal advice, and refers people to the State Bar's lawyer referral service.

Arrest records and Wisconsin employment law

The Department of Workforce Development explains the other side of a Wisconsin check: state law protects employees from workplace discrimination because of an arrest or conviction record, except where the arrest or conviction is substantially related to the job, meaning an overlap between the circumstances of the job and of the offense, such as a theft conviction and a cashier position. An arrest record covers being questioned, apprehended, held, arrested, charged, indicted or tried for any offense; a conviction record covers convictions, delinquency adjudications, less than honorable discharges, probation, fines, imprisonment and parole. A complaint must be filed within 300 days of the action.

Reading a Wisconsin result

A Wisconsin result is a name match against a fingerprint built database, returned to anyone who pays, with the department's own instruction to compare identifiers before believing it; a fingerprint challenge and the WiUPIN settle a wrong match for good. The public record is adult only, drawn from printed arrests, and current to the moment of the search, and an employer who reads it answers to the substantially related test before acting on it.

Questions about background checks in Wisconsin

Related Wisconsin records

The Department of Justice record is one of the Wisconsin records this site covers: the Wisconsin court records guide explains the circuit courts' own case search, the arrest records guide covers what a booking makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the Department of Corrections registry, and the Wisconsin county pages list each sheriff and clerk of circuit court.