Office of the Secretary of State, State of Wisconsin Office of the Secretary of State, State of Wisconsin State of Wisconsin Capital Dome

Welcome!

Doug La Follette The Office of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin


"I believe my most important job is being there when you need help."
- Doug La Follette, Secretary of State



 




The Office of the Secretary of State processes requests for apostilles and authentications. The fee for standard service (10+ business days of processing time, or two weeks) is $10 per document. We do also offer expedited service (1-2 business day processing time) for $35 per document. These estimated times do not include mail/shipping times. We are unable to answer queries about status of ongoing documents. If you have been waiting for your standard document for one month or more, or for your expedited document for more than one week, please email us at statesec@wisconsin.gov for an update. Please include date of shipment, last name on the order form, and country for which the document was requested to be authenticated.

Office of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin
B41W State Capitol, Madison WI 53703

ALERT

Due to concerns about COVID-19 (aka Coronavirus) the Secretary of State Office has suspended walk-in services to better protect the health and safety of our staff and customers. We do have a box available in the hall if you would like to drop your documents to our office in person. Expedited requests placed in the dropbox by 1:00pm during business days with proper fees included will be completed and ready for pick up in a hall cubby by 3:30pm same day. Please be sure to include a phone number on your order form.


The phone lines will remain open from 8:30am-12:00pm and from 1:00pm-4:30pm daily, and we will continue to respond to email during working hours. We are currently continuing to process documents received via USPS, UPS, FedEx, and other couriers.


We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this time.


How soon can I get my Apostille or Authentication?

About the Office:

The Office of the Secretary of State is headed by an elected Secretary of State, whose term of office is four years. Wisconsin's Constitution requires the Secretary of State to maintain the official acts of the Legislature and Governor, and to keep the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin and affix it to all official acts of the Governor. In addition, the Office administers program responsibilities set forth in approximately 100 sections of the Wisconsin Statutes, issuing authentications and apostilles; filing oaths of office; and filing deeds for state lands and buildings.


The Secretary of State is a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL).


Public Records:

These Wisconsin documents are among those preserved in the Office of the Secretary of State:

  • City, Village and Town Records *(available on-line)
  • Forest Land Deeds *(available on-line)
  • Wisconsin Blue Books (Complete set dating from 1853)
  • Statutes and Laws of Wisconsin (Dating from 1836)

* These Databases are maintained by the Office of the Secretary of State and can be accessed on-line at sos.wi.gov. If you wish to obtain a copy of an entire database, please contact:


The Office of the Secretary of State
P.O. Box 7848
Madison, WI 53707 - 7848
608-266-8888, then press 4
statesec@wi.gov

There will be a programming charge to format the database to meet your specific needs.