Wisconsin Harassment Injunctions: Four Years as Standard, Ten Only on a Judge's Finding
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Wisconsin · Last updated October 22, 2026
Wisconsin offers the longest ordinary protective term in this cluster, four years, plus a ten-year tier that opens only when a judge says so on the record. The order is a harassment injunction under Wis. Stat. 813.125, a court order telling someone you are not in a domestic relationship with to stop harassing you and to stay away, and a temporary restraining order comes first. The standard is unusually general. Harassment includes engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts which harass or intimidate another person and which serve no legitimate purpose (Wis. Stat. 813.125(1)(am)4.b.), so neither violence nor any particular relationship is required. If the person harassing you is a spouse, partner, ex, family or household member, this is the wrong order and you want the domestic abuse injunction under Wis. Stat. 813.12 instead, because the protections differ between the two tracks. Know both clocks. An injunction is in effect for not more than four years. A judge or circuit court commissioner may order up to ten years, but only when issuing or extending the injunction and only after finding, by a preponderance of the evidence stated on the record, that a listed circumstance is true, such as a substantial risk that the respondent may commit first-degree or second-degree intentional homicide against you (Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(c), (4)(d)1.). Asking for ten years does not earn it. Wisconsin also contemplates combined actions for domestic abuse, child abuse and harassment (Wis. Stat. 813.127). This page is document preparation information, not legal advice, and no order can guarantee your safety. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Wisconsin
Who is harassing you?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Do I need a relationship or violence to get a harassment injunction in Wisconsin?
Not under the second limb of the definition. Wis. Stat. 813.125(1)(am)4.b. covers engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts which harass or intimidate another person and which serve no legitimate purpose. The first limb covers physical contact, abuse, sexual assault or stalking, or attempts and threats.
How long does a Wisconsin harassment injunction last?
An injunction is in effect for not more than four years. A judge or circuit court commissioner may order not more than ten years, but only on issuing or extending the injunction and only on a finding, by a preponderance of the evidence stated on the record, that a listed circumstance is true (Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)).
What does a judge have to find before ordering ten years in Wisconsin?
A finding stated on the record, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a listed circumstance is true. One example is a substantial risk that the respondent may commit first-degree intentional homicide under s. 940.01, or second-degree intentional homicide under s. 940.05, against the petitioner (Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(d)1.a.).
Does a harassment injunction in Wisconsin cover someone I live with or date?
No, that person belongs on the domestic abuse track. A spouse, partner, ex, family or household member should look to the domestic abuse injunction under Wis. Stat. 813.12, whose protections differ from this one. Wis. Stat. 813.127 does contemplate combined actions for domestic abuse, child abuse and harassment.
Wisconsin harassment injunction rules at a glance
Wisconsin calls this order a harassment injunction, and it sits in its own section, Wis. Stat. 813.125, apart from the domestic abuse injunction in 813.12. It directs a person you are not in a domestic relationship with to stop harassing you and stay away, and a temporary restraining order precedes it. What sets Wisconsin apart is the pairing of a clean standard with a two-tier clock. A no-legitimate-purpose course of conduct is enough, with no violence and no relationship element. The ordinary term is not more than four years. The ten-year term is a separate tier that depends on an explicit judicial finding stated on the record, not on the petitioner's request. A reader who assumes ten years because the statute mentions it may believe they are protected for a decade when the order says four.
A Waukesha County bakery owner and a former supplier's reviews and visits
Picture a Waukesha County bakery owner whose former flour supplier, after a billing dispute, starts turning up at the counter at closing time, posting a new false review under a fresh name each week, and phoning the shop through the night. No blow is struck and no threat is made, and the two were never partners or relatives. The second limb of Wis. Stat. 813.125(1)(am)4. is the fit: a course of conduct which harasses or intimidates and serves no legitimate purpose. She asks for the temporary order and then for an injunction. At the hearing the length is the point. Four years is the ordinary ceiling, and ten would need a stated finding that no facts here suggest. Whether any order issues is for the court.
Relevant Laws
Wis. Stat. 813.125 (harassment restraining orders and injunctions)
The governing section. Subsection (1)(am)4. defines harassment as striking, shoving, kicking or otherwise subjecting another person to physical contact, engaging in an act that would constitute abuse under s. 48.02(1), sexual assault under s. 940.225 or stalking under s. 940.32, or attempting or threatening the same, or engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts which harass or intimidate another person and which serve no legitimate purpose.
Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(c) (the ordinary four-year term)
Provides that an injunction issued under this section is in effect for not more than four years. This is the ordinary term and the one a reader should treat as the default, because the longer tier depends on a separate finding by the court.
Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(d)1. (the ten-year tier and the on-the-record finding)
A judge or circuit court commissioner may, upon issuing an injunction or granting an extension of an injunction, order that it is in effect for not more than 10 years, if the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence stated on the record, that any of the listed circumstances is true. The first listed circumstance in subd. 1.a. is a substantial risk that the respondent may commit first-degree intentional homicide under s. 940.01, or second-degree intentional homicide under s. 940.05, against the petitioner.
Wis. Stat. 813.12 (the domestic abuse injunction that this page routes you to)
Wisconsin's separate domestic abuse restraining order and injunction section. It requires a domestic relationship and conduct within the domestic abuse definition, whereas the harassment injunction in section 813.125 needs only a qualifying course of conduct. A petitioner harassed by a spouse, partner, ex, or family or household member uses this section rather than 813.125.
Wis. Stat. 813.127 (combined actions)
Expressly contemplates combined actions for domestic abuse, child abuse and harassment. It is the reason the tracks are not hermetically sealed, even though a domestic petitioner is still routed to the domestic abuse injunction under section 813.12.
Wis. Stat. 940.32 (stalking, one of the first-limb grounds)
Defines the crime of stalking. Engaging in an act that would constitute stalking under this section is one of the physical-contact and criminal-act grounds listed in the first limb of the harassment definition in section 813.125(1)(am)4.a., alongside abuse under s. 48.02(1) and sexual assault under s. 940.225.
Regional Variances
Wisconsin harassment injunction rules at a glance
Instrument name
Harassment injunction, preceded by a temporary restraining order, under Wis. Stat. 813.125. It is a separate section from the domestic abuse injunction under Wis. Stat. 813.12.
Who it covers, and the relationship test
No relationship is required under the second limb of the definition. Someone in a domestic relationship with the respondent should look to the domestic abuse injunction under Wis. Stat. 813.12, though Wis. Stat. 813.127 contemplates combined actions for domestic abuse, child abuse and harassment.
The standard
Harassment means physical contact, abuse, sexual assault or stalking, or attempts and threats of those, or engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts which harass or intimidate another person and which serve no legitimate purpose (Wis. Stat. 813.125(1)(am)4.). No violence is needed on the second limb.
Temporary order
A temporary restraining order precedes the injunction under Wis. Stat. 813.125. This page does not state its length or the notice rules that apply to it, so confirm both with the circuit court clerk.
Duration, ordinary tier
Not more than four years (Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(c)). This is the longest ordinary term in this cluster and the term to rely on unless the order itself states otherwise.
Duration, aggravated tier
Not more than ten years, only where a judge or circuit court commissioner, on issuing or extending the injunction, finds by a preponderance of the evidence stated on the record that a listed circumstance is true, including a substantial risk of first-degree or second-degree intentional homicide against the petitioner (Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(d)1.a.). A request alone does not reach this tier.
Renewal
The statute contemplates an extension of an injunction (Wis. Stat. 813.125(4)(d)1.). The standard for granting one is not set out on this page, so ask the clerk or an attorney.
Court and form
Circuit court. This page does not give a form number, so confirm the current harassment petition forms with the circuit court clerk.
Filing fee, service and firearms
Not covered on this page. Ask the circuit court clerk about any filing fee, how the respondent must be served, and any firearm provision that attaches to an injunction, rather than relying on a general assumption.
Violation
An injunction directs the respondent's behaviour and carries consequences if violated, but it cannot by itself guarantee anyone's safety. Report any violation and keep a copy of the order with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Wisconsin guides
Adult Guardianship in Wisconsin
Adverse Possession in Wisconsin: Twenty, Ten or Seven Years, and the Affidavit That Stops It
Asset Protection Planning in Wisconsin (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Wisconsin (2026)
Delinquent Property Taxes in Wisconsin: A Tax Certificate Nobody Can Buy, and a Two Year Clock
Expunging a Criminal Record in Wisconsin (2026)
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