The Wisconsin Department of Corrections established the state's sex offender registry in June 1997 under Wisconsin Act 440, which became sections 301.45 and 301.46 of the statutes, and its registry website opens with the scope: by law the registry generally holds people who were convicted of, incarcerated for or on supervision for a sex offense on or after December 25, 1993, it is not a list of everyone who ever committed, was arrested for or was convicted of a sex offense, a person not convicted of a qualifying offense or not yet reported to the department may be missing, the information never reflects a person's whole criminal history, and the department has not assessed any registrant's risk of reoffense, since inclusion rests solely on the conviction record and state law. The purpose, the site says, is to make the information easily available rather than to warn about any particular person, because until the 1997 law the police could not tell the public where a sex offender lived at all; each registrant submits the information, some of it turns out wrong, some registrants fail to report a move, and the department cannot guarantee accuracy or confirm all of it independently, so a doubtful entry goes to the Sex Offender Registry Program at 3099 East Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53704, at (608) 240-5830.
Two notices sit at the top of the site. The first is a scam alert: callers posing as police or the registry have told registrants they are out of compliance with registration or DNA rules, sent fake warrants or court orders and demanded cash cards or money transfers, and neither the police nor the registry ever asks a registrant for money to comply. The second concerns Halloween: registrants under active community supervision by the department are prohibited from Halloween activities, and anyone who sees such a registrant taking part can report it to the SAFE tip line at 1-877-234-0085 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while registrants shown with terminated status are off supervision and not bound by that rule. The legislature did not intend the information to be used to injure, harass or commit a crime against a registrant, a registrant's family or employer, and vandalism, threats and assaults bring prosecution. The police department or sheriff for any Wisconsin address is on the Wisconsin county pages.
- Search: the Department of Corrections registry by complete or partial name, address, ZIP Code or geographic area, showing name, aliases, photograph, offense, address, description, vehicle, compliance status, length of registration and supervision status; juveniles never appear.
- Duration: 15 years after the conviction date when no supervision or incarceration was imposed, 15 years after discharge when it was, or life, with multiple registerable offenses bringing lifetime registration.
- Ten days: every change of address, employment, volunteer work, school enrollment or internet identifier is reported within ten days; a homeless registrant contacts the department every seven days.
- Notification: special bulletin notices go to local police for certain offenders, who decide on bulletins or a community notification meeting, and the website emails anyone who signs up when a registrant moves within a chosen radius of an address.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Wisconsin's own systems: the Wisconsin Department of Corrections sex offender registry website, the Department of Corrections registry frequently asked questions, the Department of Corrections public website questions and answers, as published by the City of New Berlin, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
What the website shows, and the four statuses
Section 301.46(5n) lets the department provide access to the registry through an internet site, and the department's questions and answers describe what it shows: the registrant's name and known aliases, demographic information with height, weight, hair and eye color, a photograph, the sexual offenses requiring registration, the current reported address, the compliance status, the length of registration, the supervision status and the vehicle.
Every registrant carries one of four incarceration or supervision statuses: on Division of Community Corrections supervision, meaning probation, parole or extended supervision with a department agent and rules beyond registration; off that supervision, meaning no agent and no rules but still the legal duty to register an address and the other required information; under Department of Health Services supervision; or incarcerated in the state prison system.
Most registrants are not under any supervision. The public does not see everything: law enforcement has access to more, victims enrolled in the NOTIS notification service through the Office of Victim Services, which answers at 1-800-947-5777, see more about the offender who victimized them, internet identifiers are reported but never published, and no victim's name or identifying information is ever associated with a registrant.
Who registers, and for how long
Anyone who on or after December 25, 1993 was convicted, adjudicated delinquent, in prison, in a juvenile correctional facility or secured residential care center, or on probation, parole or extended supervision for a registerable sex offense registers, and so does anyone living, working or attending school in Wisconsin who must register in another state or jurisdiction, juveniles included, who was convicted in a military, tribal or federal court, who was convicted elsewhere of an offense comparable to a Wisconsin registerable offense, or who is a juvenile on supervision entering under the interstate compact.
Juveniles register when waived into adult court and convicted, when adjudicated delinquent for a registerable offense or when a judge orders it under county supervision, but juvenile adjudications are largely confidential in Wisconsin and never appear on the website, though the police may release the information when warranted. The term depends on the conviction and the sentence: 15 years after the conviction date for a registrant not sentenced to supervision or incarceration, 15 years after the discharge date for one who was, or lifetime, which a conviction for multiple registerable offenses may require; a registrant is removed on discharge from the requirement or on notice of death, and the registry has no authority to remove anyone early, so the legal avenues that exist in certain circumstances run through the court of conviction.
What registrants report, and the ten days
Under section 301.45 a registrant reports the address, employment, volunteer work, school enrollment and internet identifiers, and reports any change within ten days. A homeless registrant is not in violation for being homeless but must contact the department once every seven days to report where the person is staying, a rule the department ties to the State v. Dinkins decision. Changes reach the registry through a 24 hour recorded line at 888-963-3363, through staff at 608-240-5830 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., by email to DOCBOPADMIN@wisconsin.gov, by fax to 608-240-3355, by mail to the registry at P.O.
Box 7925, Madison, WI 53707-7925 or through the registrant portal, where a registrant verifies the information electronically. Failing to report or falsifying information may bring prosecution with a penalty of up to a $10,000 fine, up to six years in prison, or both, under section 301.45(6)(a)(2), though the registry itself cannot arrest anyone or issue warrants and the district attorney decides whether to charge. Fuller details of an offense come from the clerk of court of the county of conviction, who may charge for the criminal complaint and sentencing documents, or from the circuit court access program with the registrant's full name or case number.
Where a registrant may live and work
For a registrant on active supervision a probation or parole agent approves or denies any proposed residence case by case, and the rules of supervision reach employment, leisure activities, contact with children, internet use and presence on school property. For a registrant no longer under supervision the statutes set no restriction on where the person may live, local ordinances may, and the registry has no role in either the ordinances or the placement of registrants; nor do the statutes stop a registrant from holding social networking, email, chat room or messaging accounts, from living with minor children or from being around children.
Two statutes do apply to everyone: section 948.13 bars a registrant convicted of a serious child sex offense from any paid or unpaid position that primarily and directly involves children under 16, teaching, child care, youth counseling and organizations, coaching, park and playground recreation work and school bus driving among them, and section 301.475 requires every registrant to tell the school district administrator of the registration before being on school property for any school sponsored event.
Special bulletins, notification meetings and the email alerts
Section 301.46 tells the department how to pass registrant information to local law enforcement and the public. Certain offenders, by the number of their offenses or the circumstances of a crime, warrant a special bulletin notice to local police, with the statute setting what the department must supply so that the agency can decide how to notify its community; the Department of Health Services may issue the same notices for people in its care, and a local agency may send bulletins or hold a community notification meeting when a particular registrant moves in.
The department explains why not every registrant brings a bulletin or a meeting: the numbers would make notification ineffective through saturation, and each community differs, so the statute leaves the judgment to the local police who know it. Anyone who wants to hear about every registrant arriving in a neighborhood signs up on the website for an email notification of registrants who move within a chosen radius of an address.
The department also advises families to talk openly, to keep what children are told general, since almost 90 percent of sex crimes are committed by someone the victim knows, and to teach children not to accept rides, enter the registrant's home or yard, accept gifts or go without a buddy, while warning that following or watching a registrant is misuse of the information.
The 2024 law on two or more occasions
On March 31, 2024, 2023 Wisconsin Act 254 wrote into sections 301.45 and 301.46 the meaning of the phrase on two or more separate occasions, adopting the Attorney General's 2017 opinion that it refers to multiple convictions whether or not they came in one proceeding, on one date or in one complaint, and extending it to findings of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The law reaches back to determinations made on or after September 2, 2017, so the department had to identify people released from registration or spared lifetime GPS tracking before the act who would have been covered, notify them within 60 days of the act taking effect, and give them 30 days to register for life or have GPS installed on pain of a Class H felony; the department notifies affected registrants by mail, cannot give legal advice and points challenges to the courts.
A person on lifetime GPS tracking under section 301.48 may petition the court for removal no earlier than 20 years after the tracking began, an agent cannot remove it, and refusing or tampering with GPS carries up to $10,000 and three and a half years.
Errors, tips and the SAFE team
A wrong or missing entry is reported to the registry at 608-240-5830, DOCBOPADMIN@wisconsin.gov or P.O. Box 7925 in Madison, and anonymous reports of errors or of the whereabouts of non compliant registrants go to the SAFE tip line at 877-234-0085 or docsafetips@doc.state.wi.us, or through the tip link on a registrant's display page, which cannot be answered unless the sender adds contact details. SAFE, the Sex Offender Apprehension and Felony Enforcement team started in 2005, pools state and local investigators to keep sex offenders from becoming anonymous and to find and prosecute those who fail to report their whereabouts.
Public record information on registrants in prison or on supervision sits in the department's offender locator, victims reach the Office of Victim Services and Programs about an offender's status, restitution, parole and unwanted contact, and the registry takes questions and feedback from its own contact tab.
Reading a Wisconsin result
A listing on the department's site gives the offense, the reported address, the compliance status, the length of registration and one of the four supervision statuses, with nothing about risk, since the department assesses none; an absent name may be a juvenile, a person whose 15 years ran out or a conviction before December 25, 1993 that never required registration. The registry in Madison holds the file, the local police hold any special bulletin, and the court of conviction holds the only route to early removal.
Questions about the Wisconsin sex offender registry
Related Wisconsin records
Wisconsin's other public records are covered on this site: the Wisconsin arrest records guide for what a booking makes public, the Wisconsin inmate search guide for the Department of Corrections offender locator and the county jails, the Wisconsin court records guide for the circuit court access program, and the Wisconsin county pages for every sheriff and police department.