Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 343 - Operators' licenses.
343.24 - Department to furnish operating record.

343.24 Department to furnish operating record.
(1) The department shall upon request furnish any person an abstract of the operating record of any person. The abstract shall be certified if certification is requested. Such abstract is not admissible in evidence in any action for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident.
(2) Except as provided in pars. (b) and (c), the department shall charge the following fees to any person for conducting searches of vehicle operators' records:
(a) For each file search, $5.
(b) For each computerized search, $5. The department may not charge this fee to any governmental unit, as defined in s. 895.51 (1) (dm).
(c) For each search requested by telephone, $6, or an established monthly service rate determined by the department. The department may not charge this fee to any governmental unit, as defined in s. 895.51 (1) (dm).
(d) For providing a paper copy of an abstract, $2.
(2m) If the department, in maintaining a computerized operating record system, makes copies of its operating record file database, or a portion thereof, on computer tape or other electronic media, copies of the tape or media may be furnished to any person on request. The department may also furnish to any person upon request records on computer tape or other electronic media that contain information from files of uniform traffic citations or motor vehicle accidents and that were produced for or developed by the department for purposes related to maintenance of the operating record file database. The department shall charge a fee of $5 for each file of vehicle operators' records contained in the tape or media. The department shall charge a fee of not more than $5 for each file of uniform traffic citations or motor vehicle accidents contained in the tape or media. Nothing in this subsection requires the department to produce records of particular files or data in a particular format except as those records or data are made by the department for its purposes.
(3) The department shall not disclose information concerning or related to a violation as defined by s. 343.30 (6) to any person other than a court, district attorney, county corporation counsel, city, village, or town attorney, law enforcement agency, driver licensing agency of another jurisdiction, or the minor who committed the violation or his or her parent or guardian.
(4)
(a) In this subsection:
1. “Agent" means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of another person.
2. “Insurer" has the meaning given in s. 600.03 (27).
3. “Personal identifier" has the meaning given in s. 85.103 (1).
4. “State authority" has the meaning given in s. 19.62 (8).
(b) In furnishing 10 or more operating records to a person under sub. (1) or (2m), the department may not disclose a personal identifier of any person who has made a designation under s. 85.103 (2) or (3).
(c) Paragraph (b) does not apply to any of the following:
1. A law enforcement agency, a state authority, a district attorney, a driver licensing agency of another jurisdiction, or a federal governmental agency, to perform a legally authorized function.
2. An insurer authorized to write property and casualty or life, disability or long-term care insurance in this state or an agent of the insurer, if the insurer or agent uses the names or addresses for purposes of issuing or renewing a policy and related underwriting, billing or processing or paying a claim. Notwithstanding par. (e), no insurer, or agent of an insurer, may disclose to another person for marketing purposes any personal identifier received under this subdivision.
(e) Any person who has received under par. (c) a personal identifier of any person who has made a designation under s. 85.103 (2) or (3) shall keep the personal identifier confidential and may not disclose it except for a purpose applicable to that person under par. (c).
(f)
1. Any person who discloses a personal identifier in violation of this subsection may be required to forfeit not more than $500 for each violation.
2. Any person who requests or obtains a personal identifier from the department under this subsection under false pretenses may be required to forfeit not more than $500 for each violation.
3. Subdivisions 1. and 2. do not apply to a legal custodian under s. 19.33 of the department.
History: 1975 c. 297 s. 9; Stats. 1975 s. 343.24; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (7) (e); 1979 c. 221, 331, 355; 1989 a. 105; 1991 a. 269; 1993 a. 16, 490; 1995 a. 113; Sup. Ct. Order No. 99-04, 228 Wis. 2d xxiii (2000); 1999 a. 88, 185; 2001 a. 16; 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 28.
Section 19.35 (3) (a) defers to other statutes that specifically authorize records custodians to charge fees for records that differ from the fees that the open records law itself authorizes. Sub. (2m) grants the Department of Transportation (DOT) authority to charge parties for inspecting accident reports. Therefore, the requester was not entitled to free access to DOT's database because both Wisconsin open records law and statutory authority permit DOT to charge access fees for certain records and because case law has held that the right to access records does not extend to the right to access databases. Media Placement Services, Inc. v. DOT, 2018 WI App 34, 382 Wis. 2d 191, 913 N.W.2d 224, 17-0791.

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