Wisconsin Ordinances (2026)

Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code (Wis. Stat. ch. 101 and SPS 320-325) sets statewide construction standards for one- and two-family dwellings, including tiny homes built as permanent…

Wisconsin requires beekeepers to register colonies with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). State apiary inspection law applies uniformly statewide…

Wisconsin's right-to-farm law (Wis. Stat. 823.08) and Livestock Facility Siting Law (Wis. Stat. 93.90) limit municipal authority to restrict agricultural operations and standardize…

Wisconsin bans private possession, breeding, and sale of dangerous exotic animals (nonnative big cats, nonnative bears, apes, and crocodilians) under Wis. Stat. 951.097, enacted by…

Wisconsin prohibits baiting and feeding deer in counties with chronic wasting disease (CWD) or bovine TB under Wis. Stat. 29.336 and NR 10.07. The Department of Natural Resources…

Wisconsin Administrative Code NR 115 sets uniform impervious surface coverage limits for shoreland properties statewide. Counties must adopt these standards, typically capping coverage…

Wisconsin Statute § 59.692 and Wisconsin Administrative Code NR 115 establish uniform statewide shoreland zoning standards including setback requirements from navigable waters…

Wisconsin regulates electronic vaping devices under its tobacco statutes, requiring retailer licenses, age-verification, and excise taxes on vapor products, with state law preempting…

Wisconsin has no legal recreational or medical marijuana dispensary program. State law prohibits cannabis sales, so no municipality can authorize dispensary operations through zoning…

Wisconsin prohibits all marijuana cultivation, including for personal use. Growing any cannabis plant is a felony under state controlled substances law. No municipality may authorize…

Wisconsin commercial drone operators follow FAA Part 107. Wis. Stat. 114.045 sets state no-fly zones over prisons, schools, and utilities, and local governments cannot regulate flight…

Wisconsin has a partial drone framework: local governments generally cannot regulate drone flight, but Wis. Stat. 114.045 sets state no-fly zones over prisons, schools, and utilities…

Wisconsin Statute 104.001 expressly preempts cities, villages, towns, and counties from establishing a minimum wage higher than the state minimum, ensuring uniform wage rules across…

Wisconsin Statute 103.10 and 104.001 preempt local paid sick leave ordinances, blocking cities and counties from requiring private employers to provide paid time off beyond state and…

Wisconsin preempts local predictive scheduling and fair workweek ordinances under Wis. Stat. 103.007, ensuring statewide uniformity for employer scheduling practices and forbidding…

Wisconsin's NR 115 sets minimum shoreland zoning standards along navigable waters, and the Public Trust Doctrine protects Great Lakes shores. Counties must adopt rules at least as…

Wisconsin requires erosion control practices on construction sites under NR 151 and SPS 321. State standards apply uniformly, and one- and two-family dwelling sites follow Department…

Wisconsin requires every county, city, and village with mapped floodplains to adopt floodplain zoning meeting NR 116 minimums. Local ordinances must be approved by the DNR and cannot…

Wisconsin's NR 151 sets statewide performance standards for construction site and post-construction stormwater runoff. DNR administers WPDES permits, and local programs must meet or…

Wisconsin Chapter 90 governs partition (line) fences between adjoining owners of farming or grazing land. Adjoining owners generally share the cost equally, and town fence viewers…

Wisconsin restricts most consumer fireworks under Wis. Stat. § 167.10, requiring a user permit issued by the local mayor, village president, or town board for possession, sale, and use…

Wisconsin requires a DNR burning permit for most outdoor debris burning in DNR Protection Areas under Wis. Stat. § 26.12 and Wis. Admin. Code NR 30, with statewide bans during high…

Wisconsin uniformly regulates propane storage, installation, and handling under Wis. Admin. Code SPS 340, adopting NFPA 58 statewide and preempting inconsistent local rules through…

Wisconsin DNR designates statewide Fire Protection Areas under Wis. Stat. § 26.11 where the agency holds primary wildfire suppression authority and enforces stricter ignition rules…

Wisconsin Statute 66.0409 broadly preempts local firearm regulation, barring cities, villages, towns, and counties from enacting ordinances stricter than state law on possession…

Wisconsin permits adults at least 18 who are not prohibited persons to openly carry firearms in public without a permit, with statewide preemption blocking local restrictions on lawful…

Wisconsin Statute 941.23 makes carrying a concealed handgun in a vehicle without a CCW license a misdemeanor, while open carry and licensed concealed carry inside vehicles are lawful…

Wisconsin requires all food trucks to be licensed as Mobile Retail Food Establishments under Wis. Stat. ch. 97 and ATCP 75. State licensing is uniform statewide, though local zoning…

Wisconsin requires footings and foundations to sit below the frost penetration level or at least 48 inches below adjacent grade, whichever is deeper, so 48 inches is a floor, not a…

Wisconsin's dwelling code sets minimum roof snow loads from a state zone map and does not state a ground snow load at all, which is the opposite of how most states publish the figure.

Wisconsin bans gambling as a crime, but Wis. Stat. § 563.11(1) lets bona fide religious, charitable, service, fraternal, or veterans organizations apply to the Department of…

Wisconsin's gambling code has no carve-out for private social games. Wis. Stat. § 945.01(1) defines 'bet' and lists eight exceptions, business deals, contest prizes, bingo, pari-mutuel…

Wisconsin has no commercial sportsbook law. Wis. Stat. § 945.02 makes placing any bet a Class B misdemeanor unless it fits a listed exception, and § 945.01(1)(h), added by 2025…

Wisconsin has no comprehensive non-condo HOA act. Condominium associations get a statutory assessment lien under Wis. Stat. § 703.165 that is foreclosed like a mortgage. Non-condo HOAs…

Wisconsin condominiums run through an association of unit owners under Wis. Stat. § 703.15, which sets meeting-notice, proxy, and voting rules. Non-condo HOAs are governed as nonstock…

Wisconsin overrides anti-solar and anti-wind HOA restrictions by statute. Wis. Stat. § 236.292 voids restrictions on platted land that prevent or unduly restrict solar or wind energy…

Wisconsin protects flag display through two separate statutes, and which one applies depends on whether you own a condominium unit or a lot in a covenanted subdivision. Wis. Stat. §…

Wisconsin sets no dollar cap on association fines and requires no hearing before one is imposed. For condominiums, Wis. Stat. § 703.24(2) makes a unit owner liable for any charges…

Only Wisconsin condominium associations hold a statutory collection lien. Wis. Stat. § 703.165(3) gives the association a lien for unpaid assessments if it files a statement of…

Wisconsin runs the opposite way from states that shield owners who lease. Wis. Stat. § 703.10(3) expressly authorizes condominium bylaws to carry any restriction on the use of the…

Wisconsin has only one cottage food exemption written into its statutes, and it is narrow. Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b)2. lets you sell home-canned pickles and other processed fruits or…

Wisconsin requires state licensing or certification for any home caring for four or more unrelated children. The Department of Children and Families administers uniform standards that…

Wisconsin has never created a microenterprise home kitchen permit, and it has no exemption that lets you cook meals in your own kitchen and sell them. Wis. Stat. § 97.30(2)(a) requires…

You will not meet an OWI checkpoint in Wisconsin. Wis. Stat. § 349.02(2)(a) forbids a police officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff, traffic officer or motor vehicle inspector from stopping…

Wisconsin is a one-party consent state. Wis. Stat. § 968.31(2)(c) makes it lawful for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication when…

Wisconsin has no general stop-and-identify offense. Wis. Stat. § 968.24 lets an officer who has first identified himself or herself as law enforcement stop you in a public place, for a…

Wisconsin is unusual in codifying the grounds for a search at all. Wis. Stat. § 968.10 says a search may be made and things seized only when it is incident to a lawful arrest, with…

Wisconsin has no statute banning rainwater harvesting. Under Wis. Stat. 145.01(10)(br)1, a rainwater gutter or downspout is expressly excluded from the legal definition of "plumbing"…

Wisconsin Statute 66.0407 universally requires every property owner to destroy noxious weeds, including Canada thistle, leafy spurge, and field bindweed, on their land. Municipalities…

Wisconsin splits these two machines apart in the definitions and then treats them completely differently. A low-speed vehicle has a statewide right of the road: under Wis. Stat. s…

Wisconsin law defines abandoned vehicles and authorizes removal after 48 hours on highways or public property. State statute provides uniform procedures for impoundment, notice to…

Wisconsin caps what a towing service may charge you after a nonconsensual tow from private property. Wis. Admin. Code § Trans 319.03(1) limits removal to $150 regardless of the…

Wis. Stat. Sec. 704.17 sets the pre-eviction notice. For nonpayment of rent on a month-to-month tenancy or a lease of one year or less, the landlord gives a 5-day notice to pay or…

Wis. Stat. Sec. 704.07 makes the landlord keep structural elements, common areas, and equipment supplying heat, water, and other services in a reasonable state of repair. If the…

Wisconsin Statute 66.0104 and Act 317 prevent municipalities from limiting landlord-tenant relationships beyond state law, including any local just-cause eviction requirement. Eviction…

Wis. Stat. Sec. 704.05(2) lets a landlord enter only on advance notice and at reasonable times to inspect, repair, or show the unit. Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(2) makes that…

Under Wis. Stat. Sec. 704.19, either the landlord or tenant may end a month-to-month or other periodic tenancy with at least 28 days' written notice. If rent is payable on a basis less…

Wisconsin prohibits rent control statewide. Wis. Stat. § 66.1015 bars every city, village, town, and county from regulating the amount of rent charged for a residential rental unit…

Wisconsin Statute 66.0104 bars municipalities from requiring rental registration or licensing and limits inspection programs to designated districts with blight or code problems…

Wisconsin sets no statutory cap on the amount of a residential security deposit. After a tenancy ends, the landlord must mail or deliver the deposit, less lawful deductions, within 21…

Wisconsin recognizes three adverse-possession tracks. The default under Wis. Stat. Sec. 893.25 is 20 years of uninterrupted possession with no written instrument. Sec. 893.26 shortens…

Wisconsin's Working Lands Initiative under Statute 91 establishes farmland preservation zoning districts, certifies county and local plans, and offers income tax credits to farmers in…

Wisconsin Statute 823.08 protects established agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits by neighbors, requiring courts to dismiss claims unless the farm substantially threatens…

Wisconsin requires a tourist rooming house license for a dwelling rented to transients for fewer than 30 days when rented more than 10 nights a year, and Wis. Stat. 66.1014 bars…

Wisconsin requires short-term rental hosts to collect state sales tax and any local room tax. Wis. Stat. § 66.0615 governs municipal room taxes and caps maximum rates absent…

Wisconsin protects the display of political signs on private property. Wis. Stat. 12.04 limits how municipalities may restrict residential political signs, and Wis. Stat. 12.13(3)(h)…

Wisconsin does not merely limit what a homeowners' association may say about solar. Wis. Stat. § 236.292(2) declares that all restrictions on platted land that prevent or unduly…

Wisconsin Statute 66.0401 broadly preempts municipalities and counties from restricting solar and wind energy systems unless restrictions serve specific public health, safety, or…

Wisconsin Statute 134.66 bars selling cigarettes and tobacco to anyone under 18 and vapor products to anyone under 21. The federal Tobacco 21 law independently requires all tobacco and…

Wisconsin has not enacted a statewide ban on flavored tobacco or vapor products; sales of menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes remain lawful under Wis. Stat. 134.66 subject to…

Wisconsin universally bans designated recyclable materials from landfills and incinerators under Wis. Stat. § 287.07 and requires every responsible unit to operate an effective…

Wisconsin's rule on extra lighting is a colour rule with a count attached. Wis. Stat. § 347.07(2) bars operating any vehicle on a highway displaying a colour other than white or amber…

Wisconsin never legislated dash cams, so the governing rule is the windshield rule, and Wisconsin's version is a closed list. Wis. Admin. Code § Trans 305.34(6) bars any posters…

Wisconsin has never legislated lane splitting in either direction. The phrases "lane splitting" and "between lanes" appear nowhere in chs. 340 to 351, the whole Wisconsin Vehicle Code…

Wisconsin attacks plate covers from two directions. Wis. Stat. s. 341.61 (3) makes it an offence carrying a forfeiture of up to $500 to place any substance on a plate that hinders its…

A radar detector is lawful in a private car in Wisconsin. The phrase "radar detector" appears nowhere in the Wisconsin Statutes or the Wisconsin Administrative Code, and the equipment…

Wisconsin gives ordinary drivers no studded-tire season at all. Wis. Stat. s. 347.45 (2) bans any block, stud, flange, cleat, spike or other non-rubber protuberance that projects…

Wisconsin puts its tint numbers in the Department of Transportation's equipment rules, not in the statute book. Aftermarket film on the vent and front side windows must still pass at…