Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 889 - Documentary and record evidence.
889.04 - County and municipal ordinances.

889.04 County and municipal ordinances. Matter entered or recorded in any ordinance, record book, or other format authorized under ss. 59.23 (2) (b), 60.33 (1) and (2), 61.25 (3) and 62.09 (11) (c) or printed in any newspaper, book, pamphlet, or other form purporting to be so published, entered or recorded by any county, town, city or village in this state as a copy of its ordinance, bylaw, resolution or regulation, is prima facie evidence thereof; and after 3 years from the date of such publication, entry or recording such book or pamphlet shall be conclusive proof of the regularity of the adoption and publication of the ordinance, bylaw, resolution or regulation.
History: 1975 c. 114; 1983 a. 532 s. 36; 1995 a. 201; 2013 a. 373.
When the proof of publication of an ordinance offered at trial did not textually conform to the exhibit that was tendered as the ordinance, the city clerk's testimony that the purported ordinance was continuously in the possession of the city's keeper of documents, along with the clerk's identification of the city's “Record of Council Meetings and Actions” that recited the passage of the ordinance, raised a presumption of regularity. That presumption was conclusive under this section. City of Lake Geneva v. Smuda, 75 Wis. 2d 532, 249 N.W.2d 783 (1977).
This section applies only to procedural errors in the adoption process. County board approval of a town zoning ordinance is not part of the adoption process. Stahl v. Town of Spider Lake, 149 Wis. 2d 230, 441 N.W.2d 250 (Ct. App. 1989).
In order for a charter ordinance to be entered or recorded under this section, the procedures of s. 66.0101 must be followed, which include a two-thirds vote of approval by the common council, publication of notices, filing of a certified copy with the secretary of state, and a 60-day waiting period to allow a referendum petition to be filed. Keller v. Kraft, 2005 WI App 102, 281 Wis. 2d 784, 698 N.W.2d 843, 04-1315.

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