Portage County WI Criminal Records

Use the Portage County office in Stevens Point

Portage County, Wisconsin court records belong with its Clerk of Circuit Court at 1516 Church Street, second floor of the courthouse, Stevens Point, WI 54481. This is different from Portage County in Ohio and from the city of Portage in Wisconsin. Verify the county and court on a citation, complaint or hearing notice before requesting a record from a similarly named office.

For felony or misdemeanor questions, call 715-346-1364 and choose extension 7. The published clerk email is [email protected]. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., excluding holidays. Public-access computers are on the courthouse’s second floor in the room past the clerk’s office, providing a practical alternative when you cannot locate the case online.

Find a case reference before paying for a search

The clerk’s website links to Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, commonly called WCCA or CCAP. Search the person’s full name or use the case number and select the filing county. A name search may return several people, so compare the available identifying information and proceeding details. Keep the complete Portage case number and the title and filing date of the document you want.

A noncriminal citation issued by the City of Stevens Point or Village of Plover may belong to the municipal court rather than the circuit-court search; the county publishes 715-342-4054 as that municipal contact. For criminal matters, follow the circuit case through its disposition. A court register describes that proceeding, whereas DOJ’s separate statewide repository depends on fingerprint-supported submissions and is not a duplicate of every court file.

Tell the clerk exactly which document you need

The county’s Record Search/Document Request form takes one name per request, date of birth, known case numbers and a docket number. Select the search type, such as felony, misdemeanor or criminal traffic. Describe each desired document with its title, filing date or other identifying detail; a judgment of conviction or dismissal order is more useful for an outcome question than an unspecified request for “all criminal records.”

Give the requester’s name and telephone number, a mailing address for copies and, if relevant, a fax number. Email the clerk to arrange the request or use the county’s posted form instructions. Say explicitly if certification is required. The form offers mailed results and an optional fax for nonvoluminous material, with payment due before the documents or search results are released. It does not publish a guaranteed production time.

Know which charges apply before authorizing the order

Copies are $1.25 per page. The form lists a $5 search charge when no case number is supplied, an optional $5 fax charge and postage appropriate to large requests. For a ten-page document with a known case number, the copying portion is $12.50. Certification and any delivery amount still need to be included in the clerk’s total; the inspected request form does not state a certification price.

The form permits telephone payment with Visa or Mastercard, mailed checks or money orders, or payment in person. Supply a payment callback number if it differs from your contact number. Ask staff to confirm page count and the complete amount, especially for a whole file. Finding and providing the case number first can avoid the form’s no-case-number search charge.

Separate access limits, record correction and statewide history

Public court access does not override confidential-record restrictions or court orders. A missing public entry is not proof that no record exists, and an arrest charge does not establish the final court outcome. If a name match is uncertain, obtain the relevant filed document rather than attributing the case from the name alone. For a Wisconsin background history instead of a Portage court filing, use DOJ’s Wisconsin Online Record Check System and its current search instructions.

If a DOJ report has an incorrect conviction or missing outcome, obtain the certified judgment or dismissal order from the court and submit it with Wisconsin Criminal History Challenge Form DJ-LE-247, explaining the discrepancy. A prosecutor’s letter may establish that a case was not prosecuted. Requesting the Portage document does not itself change the state report; the supporting record must reach the reviewing agency.

If the report belongs to someone else, the DOJ identity-challenge route uses an FD-258 fingerprint card taken by an appropriate agency and the challenge form. DOJ charges no challenge fee, although fingerprint collection may cost money. Successful fingerprint comparison can produce a Wisconsin Unique Personal Identification Number for later searches. For an error in the actual Portage court entry, contact that court rather than assuming a DOJ challenge will edit WCCA.