Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 815 - Executions.
815.05 - Execution, how issued; contents.

815.05 Execution, how issued; contents.
(1g)
(a) The execution shall be issued from and sealed with the seal of the court and signed by the clerk of circuit court where the judgment, a certified copy of the judgment, or the transcript of the municipal judge's judgment is filed. The execution shall be directed to the sheriff or, except as provided for in par. (b), to the coroner if the sheriff is a party or interested, and countersigned by the judgment owner or the owner's attorney. The execution shall intelligibly refer to the judgment, stating all of the following:
1. The court.
2. The county where the judgment or a certified copy of the judgment or the transcript is filed.
3. The names of the parties.
4. The amount of the judgment, if it is for money.
5. The amount due on the judgment.
6. The time of entry in the judgment and lien docket in the county to which the execution is issued.
(b) Whenever a judgment is recovered in any court of record against the sheriff, the execution thereon may be directed and delivered to any person, except a party in interest, designated by order of the court who shall perform the duties of a sheriff and be liable in all respects to all the provisions of law respecting sheriffs to the extent that those laws are applicable.
(1s) If the execution is against the property of the judgment debtor, the execution shall require the officer to whom it is directed to satisfy the judgment out of the personal property of the debtor, and if sufficient personal property cannot be found, out of the real property belonging to the judgment debtor on the day when the judgment was entered in the judgment and lien docket in the county or at any time thereafter.
(2) If real estate has been attached and judgment rendered for the plaintiff, the execution may also direct a sale of the interest that the defendant had in the attached real estate at the time it was attached or at any time thereafter.
(3) If the execution is upon a judgment to enforce a lien upon specific property, the execution shall require the officer to whom it is directed to sell the interest that the defendant had in that specific property at the time that the lien attached.
(4) If the execution is against property in the hands of personal representatives, heirs, devisees, legatees, tenants of real property or trustees, the execution shall require the officer to whom it is directed to satisfy the judgment out of that property.
(5) If the execution is against the person of the judgment debtor, the execution shall require the officer to whom it is directed to arrest the judgment debtor and commit the judgment debtor to the county jail until the judgment debtor pays the judgment or is discharged according to law.
(6) If the execution is for the delivery of property, the execution shall require the officer to whom it is directed to deliver the possession of the property, particularly describing the property, to the party entitled to the property, and may require the officer to satisfy any costs, damages or rents and profits covered by the judgment out of the personal property of the party against whom the judgment was rendered, and shall specify the value of the property for which the judgment was recovered. If delivery of the property is not possible and if sufficient personal property cannot be found, the officer may satisfy the judgment out of the real property belonging to the person against whom the execution was rendered on the day when the judgment was entered in the judgment and lien docket or at any time thereafter.
(6m) If a judgment in replevin is entered against the principal and also against the principal's sureties under s. 810.15, the execution shall direct that the property of the surety shall not be levied on unless the property found, belonging to the principal, is not sufficient to satisfy the judgment.
(7) If the judgment is not all due, the execution may issue for the collection of any installments that have become due, and shall direct the sheriff to collect the amount then due, with interest and costs, stating the amount of each. The judgment shall remain as security for the installments thereafter to become due, and whenever any further installments become due, execution may in like manner be issued for their collection.
(8) Except as provided in s. 807.01 (4), every execution upon a judgment for the recovery of money shall direct the collection of interest at an annual rate equal to 1 percent plus the prime rate in effect on January 1 of the year in which the judgment is entered if the judgment is entered on or before June 30 of that year or in effect on July 1 of the year in which the judgment is entered if the judgment is entered after June 30 of that year, as reported by the federal reserve board in federal reserve statistical release H. 15, on the amount recovered from the date of the entry of the judgment until it is paid.
History: 1971 c. 141; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 761, 781 (1975); Stats. 1975 s. 815.05; 1977 c. 305; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (13); 1979 c. 271, 355; 1993 a. 486; 1995 a. 224; 1999 a. 85 ss. 153 to 155, 157; 1999 a. 186; 2011 a. 69.
Cross-references: The law by which the debtor may be discharged from jail is in ch. 898.
Cross-references: See s. 59.32 (2) for a provision that a sheriff is to collect fees on execution in the same manner as the sum collected under the writ.
When a transcript of a judgment docket is filed in another county, the court of that county has no jurisdiction to issue an execution. An execution may issue only from the court of entry. Wilson v. Craite, 60 Wis. 2d 350, 210 N.W.2d 700 (1973).
The rate of interest provided by a foreign judgment docketed in Wisconsin controls, not the sub. (8) rate. Professional Office Buildings, Inc. v. Royal Indemnity Co., 145 Wis. 2d 573, 427 N.W.2d 427 (Ct. App. 1988).
Sub. (8) establishes the interest rate for every judgment for which the legislature has not explicitly established a different rate. Burlington Northern Railroad Co. v. City of Superior, 159 Wis. 2d 434, 464 N.W.2d 643 (1991).
Interest accrues under sub. (8) at the stated rate only until paid, including payment to the court. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in staying execution and ordering the judgment amount paid into the court pending appeal. Management Computer Services, Inc. v. Hawkins, Ash, Baptie & Co., 224 Wis. 2d 312, 592 N.W.2d 279 (Ct. App. 1998), 97-2470.
How to Collect on a Judgment After the Demise of the Creditor's Lien. Stelljes. Wis. Law. July/Aug. 2016.

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