Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 851 - Probate — definitions and general provisions.
851.71 - Appointment and compensation of registers in probate.

851.71 Appointment and compensation of registers in probate.
(1) In each county, the judges of the county shall appoint and may remove a register in probate. Appointments and removals may be made only with the approval of the chief judge. Before entering upon duties, the register in probate shall take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office and file it, together with the order of appointment, in the office of the clerk of circuit court.
(2) One or more deputies may be appointed in the manner specified in sub. (1).
(3) The salary of the register in probate and of any deputies shall be fixed by the county board and paid by the county.
(4) In counties having a population of 750,000 or more, the appointment under subs. (1) and (2) shall be made as provided in those subsections but the judges shall not remove the register in probate and deputy registers, except through charges for dismissal made and sustained under s. 63.10.
History: 1977 c. 449; 1987 a. 15; 2011 a. 10; 2017 a. 207 s. 5.
A county's collective bargaining agreement cannot supersede the authority of circuit judges to appoint the register in probate. Iowa County v. Iowa County Courthouse, 166 Wis. 2d 614, 480 N.W.2d 499 (1992).
A register in probate has a plain legal duty to file and keep all papers properly filed. The register may refuse to accept a paper for which the proper fee is not paid and has no other grounds for refusing a pleading. Estate of Reise, 2002 WI App 83, 251 Wis. 2d 472, 642 N.W.2d 568, 01-2939.

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