Dane County Sheriff's Office

Execution Against Property Procedure

The information contained on this page is for general guidance only and is in no way intended to be legal advice. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with an attorney or other advisor as necessary.

1) Obtain a valid Execution Against Property from Dane County Circuit Court

Make sure the Execution Against Property contains all of the following:

Correct Court case number
Correct spelling of Plaintiff (Creditor) and Defendant (Debtor) names
Date
Clerk of Court seal
An electronic signature of a court official
Signed and dated by creditor
Lines for interest owed and/or amount due to date should be completed by creditor, if applicable. NOTE: this is the only alteration to the original Court document the Dane County Sheriff's Office will accept

If the judgment is from a county outside of Dane County, the judgment must be docketed in Dane County and it will be assigned a TJ # (transfer of jurisdiction)

If the judgment is from outside of the State of Wisconsin the judgment must be docketed in Dane County and it will be assigned a FJ # (foreign judgment)

2) The Execution Against Property is valid for a limited time. Once received, the Sheriff has 60 calendar days to execute the court order.

3) When submitting the Execution Against Property to the Sheriff’s Office, the Plaintiff must provide an address and phone number for billing and contact purposes. Please include any information that may assist the deputies in executing the court order. Executions against property may be delivered to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office by either:

Submitting all paperwork at the Sheriff’s Office Civil Process window located on the 2nd floor of the Public Safety Building, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. OR
Submitting all paperwork electronically via cprocess@danesheriff.com

4) Attempts to satisfy the judgment by The Sheriff’s Office

Deputies will attempt to contact the Debtor and make a demand for the full amount owed to the Creditor (judgment + Sheriff’s fees)
If the Debtor offers a payment plan, deputies will contact the Creditor and discuss how to proceed if approved by Creditor
If no payment by Debtor, deputies will attempt to locate personal property to seize and sell to satisfy the judgment. If personal property is located, deputies will discuss the process with the Creditor
If no payments are made and no personal property is available to seize/sell, the judgment can be attached to real property owned by the Debtor. Deputies will discuss the process with the Creditor

Sheriff's Office Fees

If no money is collected, property seized or judgment is not attached to real property - $40 paid by Creditor
If money is collected - $40 + 1 round trip mileage + commission. Per state statute 814.70(5), the Sheriff can collect a commission not to exceed $60 based on the dollar amount collected – this is collected from Debtor
If personal property is seized and sold or the judgment is being attached to real property, other fees will apply and must be pre-paid to the Sheriff’s Office. Contact deputies for an estimate of these fees.
If money is collected, the Creditor will receive a check in 1 -2 weeks after the court order is returned to the Court. Sheriff fees will be deducted from the amount owed to the Creditor.

Pre-payment of Sheriff's fees will be required for all accounts with past due balances

Deputies are available to answer any questions regarding this process. Deputies can be reached at
West County Deputy: (608) 284-6819
East County Deputy: (608) 284-6818