Relating to: increasing certain court fees and surcharges and indexing those amounts for inflation. (FE)
AB 320 increases multiple court filing fees and requires these fees to be adjusted for inflation starting in 2030. It raises specific fees, such as the civil filing fee from $75 to $190 and the criminal case fee from $163 to $239, with future adjustments tied to the U.S. consumer price index. These changes directly affect individuals filing court cases (e.g., defendants in criminal matters, plaintiffs in civil or family cases) who pay these fees. The bill mandates that fee amounts be recalculated every five years based on inflation data, rounded up to the nearest dollar, and posted online by the state courts director. The adjustments apply to over 20 specific fee categories across criminal, civil, and family court proceedings.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jul 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Assembly Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jul 8, 2025
Signed Apr 3, 2026
Floor votes · Senate Feb 11, 2026 · Assembly Jan 22, 2026
How they voted
32–2
Passed
Total votes 34
Feb 11, 2026
D
Democratic16
93% Yea
R
Republican18
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
53
Key actions
13
Committee
7
Amendments
10
Apr 3, 2026
Signed into law
Report approved by the Governor on 4-3-2026. 2025 Wisconsin Act 179
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate Amendment 1 concurred in
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Received from Senate amended and concurred in as amended (Senate amendment1 adopted)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read a third time and concurred in as amended, Ayes 31, Noes 2
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Amendment 1 adopted
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Introduced
Senate Amendment 1 offered by Senator Wanggaard
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Upper · Passed
Report concurrence recommended by Joint Committee on Finance, Ayes 15, Noes 0
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Committee
Withdrawn from committee on Senate Organization and rereferred to joint committee on Finance pursuant to Senate Rule 46(2)(c)
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Report concurrence recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 8, Noes 0
upper
Jan 22, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read a third time and passed, Ayes 65, Noes 32
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Lower · Passed
Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 adopted
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Lower · Passed
Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 adopted
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Introduced
Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Representative Allen
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Amended
Assembly Amendment 1 to Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 withdrawn and returned to author
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
Assembly Amendment 1 to Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Representative Allen
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
Placed on calendar 1-22-2026 by Committee on Rules
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Committee
Referred to committee on Rules
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Judiciary, Ayes 6, Noes 2
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Report Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 adoption recommended by Committee on Judiciary, Ayes 6, Noes 2
lower
Jan 6, 2026
Introduced
Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Representative Allen
lower
Sep 25, 2025
Introduced
Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Allen
lower
Jul 8, 2025
Introduced
Introduced by Representatives Allen, O'Connor, Donovan, Mursau, Armstrong, Behnke, Brill, Brooks, Dittrich, Goeben, B. Jacobson, Kitchens, Maxey, Piwowarczyk, Steffen and Melotik;
cosponsored by Senator Wanggaard
lower
16 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Barbara Dittrich
RRepublican
P
Bob Donovan
RRepublican
P
Brent Jacobson
RRepublican
P
Dave Armstrong
RRepublican
P
Dave Maxey
RRepublican
P
David Steffen
RRepublican
P
Elijah Behnke
RRepublican
P
Jeff Mursau
RRepublican
P
Jerry O'Connor
RRepublican
P
Jim Piwowarczyk
RRepublican
P
Joel Kitchens
RRepublican
P
Joy Goeben
RRepublican
P
Lindee Brill
RRepublican
P
Paul Melotik
RRepublican
P
Rob Brooks
RRepublican
P
Scott Allen
RRepublican
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