WI Waukesha County: Waukesha County Standing Order 26-SO-03-67: Use of Artificial Intelli…
Court (Family Division) · Wisconsin Circuit Court, Waukesha County (Family Division)
Verified April 30, 2026
- Citation
- Waukesha County Standing Order 26-SO-03-67: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Family Division Filings
- Order date
- January 27, 2026
Summary
Any filing prepared using AI must be independently reviewed to confirm accuracy, legitimacy, and proper use of applicable law.
What does the order require?
- Any filing prepared using AI must be independently reviewed to confirm accuracy, legitimacy, and proper use of applicable law.
- Filers are required to disclose the use of AI and include a certification verifying that all legal citations have been personally reviewed and confirmed as accurate.
- The use of AI does not relieve attorneys or pro se litigants of their ethical or professional obligations under Wisconsin law.
- Failure to comply with the Standing Order may result in court action, including striking the filing, sanctions, or disciplinary referral.
Practice areas: state family
What the order requires
Waukesha County Circuit Court issued Standing Order 26-SO-03-67 effective January 27, 2026, governing the use of artificial intelligence (broadly defined, not just generative) in any filing made in the Family Division. The order is one of the earliest county-level family-court AI orders in the country and reflects the practice-area concern that pro se family-court filings (divorce, custody, support) are particularly susceptible to AI-generated errors.
- Independent review. Any filing prepared using AI must be independently reviewed to confirm accuracy, legitimacy, and proper use of applicable law.
- Disclosure. Filers must disclose the use of AI on the filing.
- Citation certification. Filers must include a certification verifying that all legal citations have been personally reviewed and confirmed as accurate.
- Professional obligations preserved. AI use does not relieve attorneys or pro se litigants of their ethical or professional obligations under Wisconsin law.
- Sanctions. Non-compliance may result in striking the filing, sanctions, or disciplinary referral.
Why family-division-only matters
Waukesha County did not extend this order to civil, criminal, probate, or small-claims divisions. The likely reason: family-court filings have the highest concentration of pro se litigants in the county system, and the highest demonstrated risk of AI-hallucinated authorities making it onto the record. Practitioners should not assume the order applies to non-family matters in Waukesha County, but should expect parallel orders in other divisions over the next 12-24 months.
Practitioner workflow
Family-law attorneys with matters in Waukesha County should:
- Build an AI disclosure block into every filing template (divorce petitions, custody motions, financial disclosures, support petitions).
- Add a citation-verification certification adjacent to the signature block.
- Counsel pro se clients about the order: pro se litigants are bound by it equally and a missed disclosure can mean a stricken filing.
The order’s “any AI” scope (not “generative AI only”) means traditional AI tools embedded in productivity software are arguably covered. Disclose conservatively.
Scope
Family Division of Waukesha County Circuit Court only. Effective January 27, 2026. Applies to attorneys, parties, and self-represented litigants.
Primary source
Standing Order 26-SO-03-67 (PDF): https://www.waukeshacounty.gov/media/ppqccll3/26-so-03-67-family-use-of-ai.pdf
Announcement: https://www.waukeshacounty.gov/news/posts/new-standing-order-on-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-family-division-filings/