800.115 Relief from judgment.
(1) A defendant may within 6 months after the judgment is entered move for relief from the judgment because of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.
(2) Any party, including the court on its own motion, may at any time move to reopen the judgment under s. 806.07 (1) (c), (d), (g), or (h).
(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent the parties from stipulating and the court approving the reopening of a judgment for any other reason justifying relief from operation of the judgment.
(4) The court may impose costs on the motion as allowed under s. 814.07, except that any costs shall be based on the expense associated with the motion and the court shall consider the defendant’s ability to pay the costs using the factors in s. 814.29 (1) (d) 1. to 3. No costs may be imposed as a requirement of filing the motion.
(5) Upon making a motion under this section, the court shall provide notice to all parties and schedule a hearing on the motion. Upon receiving a motion under this section, the court may enter an order denying the motion for failure to state grounds upon which relief may be granted, schedule a hearing on the motion, or enter an order based on written submissions from the parties.
History: 1987 a. 389; 2009 a. 402; 2019 a. 70.
Only a defendant may seek relief under this section. However a municipal court has the inherent authority to vacate a void judgment irrespective of the statute’s requirements for reopening a judgment. City of Kenosha v. Jensen, 184 Wis. 2d 91, 516 N.W.2d 4 (Ct. App. 1994).