Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 968 - Commencement of criminal proceedings.
968.12 - Search warrant.

968.12 Search warrant.
(1) Description and issuance. A search warrant is an order signed by a judge directing a law enforcement officer to conduct a search of a designated person, a designated object or a designated place for the purpose of seizing designated property or kinds of property. A judge shall issue a search warrant if probable cause is shown.
(2) Warrant upon affidavit. A search warrant may be based upon sworn complaint or affidavit, or testimony recorded by a phonographic reporter or under sub. (3) (d), showing probable cause therefor. The complaint, affidavit or testimony may be upon information and belief. The person requesting the warrant may swear to the complaint or affidavit before a notarial officer authorized under ch. 140 to take acknowledgments or before a judge, or a judge may place a person under oath via telephone, radio, or other means of electronic communication, without the requirement of face-to-face contact, to swear to the complaint or affidavit. The judge shall indicate on the search warrant that the person so swore to the complaint or affidavit.
(3) Warrant upon oral testimony.
(a) General rule. A search warrant may be based upon sworn oral testimony communicated to the judge by telephone, radio or other means of electronic communication, under the procedure prescribed in this subsection.
(b) Application and issuance.
1. `Duplicate originals.' The person who is requesting the warrant may prepare a duplicate original warrant and read the duplicate original warrant, verbatim, to the judge. The judge shall enter, verbatim, what is read on the original warrant. The judge may direct that the warrant be modified. If the judge determines that there is probable cause for the warrant, the judge shall order the issuance of a warrant by directing the person requesting the warrant to sign the judge's name on the duplicate original warrant. In addition, the person shall sign his or her own name on the duplicate original warrant. The judge shall immediately sign the original warrant and enter on the face of the original warrant the exact time when the warrant was ordered to be issued.
2. `Electronic transmission.' The person who is requesting the warrant may sign his or her own name on the warrant and transmit it to the judge. The judge may modify the warrant. If the judge determines that there is probable cause for the warrant, the judge shall order the issuance of a warrant by signing the warrant and entering on the face of the warrant the exact time when the warrant was ordered to be issued. The judge shall immediately transmit the signed warrant to the person who requested it.
(c) Probable cause. The finding of probable cause for a warrant upon oral testimony shall be based on the same kind of evidence as is sufficient for a warrant upon affidavit.
(d) Recording and certification of testimony. When a caller informs the judge that the purpose of the call is to request a warrant, the judge shall place under oath each person whose testimony forms a basis of the application and each person applying for the warrant. The judge or requesting person shall arrange for all sworn testimony to be recorded either by a court reporter or by means of a voice recording device. The judge shall have the record transcribed. The transcript, certified as accurate by the judge or reporter, as appropriate, shall be filed with the court.
(e) Contents. The contents of a warrant upon oral testimony shall be the same as the contents of a warrant upon affidavit.
(f) Entry of time of execution. The person who executes the warrant shall enter the exact time of execution on the face of the duplicate original warrant.
(4) Location of search. A search warrant may authorize a search to be conducted anywhere in the state and may be executed pursuant to its terms anywhere in the state.
(5) Signatures. In this section, a person requesting a warrant and a judge issuing a warrant may sign by using an electronic signature, a handwritten signature, or a handwritten signature that is electronically imaged.
History: 1971 c. 298; 1983 a. 443; Sup. Ct. Order, 141 Wis. 2d xiii (1987); Sup. Ct. Order No. 14-03, 2016 WI 29, 368 Wis. 2d xiii; 2017 a. 261; Sup. Ct. Order No. 19-01, 2019 WI 44, 386 Wis. 2d xvii; 2019 a. 125; 2021 a. 65.
Judicial Council Note, 1988: Sub. (2) is amended to eliminate the preference for written affidavits as the basis for search warrants. Telephoned testimony allows faster response and the transcribed record is no less adequate for review.
Sub. (3) (a) is amended to eliminate the preference for written affidavits as the basis for search warrants. Telephoned testimony allows faster response and the transcribed record is no less adequate for review.
Sub. (3) (c) is amended to eliminate the preference for written affidavits as the basis for search warrants. Telephoned testimony allows faster response and the transcribed record is no less adequate for review.
Sub. (3) (d) is amended to authorize that the testimony be recorded either by a stenographic reporter or a voice recording device. [Re Order effective Jan. 1, 1988]
Specific statutory authorization was not necessary for a judge to issue an order that authorized the procedures used to track the defendant's cell phone because the order was supported by probable cause. Nonetheless, the order did comply with the spirit of this section and s. 968.135. State v. Tate, 2014 WI 89, 357 Wis. 2d 172, 849 N.W.2d 798, 12-0336.
A search warrant issued for the placement and use of a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device is not a warrant issued “for the purpose of seizing designated property or kinds of property” under sub. (1) and s. 968.13 and is therefore not subject to the requirements of s. 968.15 or 968.17. State v. Pinder, 2018 WI 106, 384 Wis. 2d 416, 919 N.W.2d 568, 17-0208.
NOTE: See also the notes to article I, section 11, of the Wisconsin Constitution.

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