Office of the Secretary of State, State of Wisconsin Office of the Secretary of State, State of  Wisconsin State of  Wisconsin Capital Dome

Secretary of State Seal

Documentation received by the Wisconsin Secretary of State relating to the 2020 election.


This Wisconsin Secretary of State’s website is being updated. We are redesigning our website and services to increase accessibility and efficiency for Wisconsinites. Thank you for your patience.


Sarah Godlewski The Office of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin


Sarah Godlewski is a fifth generation Wisconsinite from Eau Claire. She is a forward-looking leader who has excelled in both government and business. Appointed by Governor Evers as the 29th Secretary of State of Wisconsin, Sarah has made history by becoming only the third woman to hold this esteemed position.


Before serving as Secretary of State, Sarah was elected State Treasurer of Wisconsin in 2018, after successfully leading a bipartisan coalition to save the office. In her role as the state's chief financial officer, Sarah was committed to providing taxpayer transparency and produced taxpayer reports to explain where tax dollars go. In addition, Sarah prioritized building economic opportunities by starting a program designed to increase homeownership by empowering Wisconsinites to purchase a home or support individuals facing foreclosure. Further, she was recognized for her work to develop a child savings account program called 401(K)ids.


As Treasurer and will continue as Secretary of State, Sarah served as chair of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which manages a $1.4 billion trust fund that provided record-breaking annual distributions to Wisconsin public schools.


Prior to her public service, Sarah co-founded MaSa Partners, an impact investment firm that invests in early-stage, mission-driven businesses. She also served as a founding member of WE Capital Fund, which empowers female entrepreneurs through financing opportunities and separately supported micro lending work in rural India – seeing in both how access to capital can transform communities.


Sarah started her career supporting the Pentagon for nearly a decade where she helped save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. She graduated with a degree in peace and conflict resolution from George Mason University. Sarah was a national security fellow with the Air War College and has a Certificate in Public Treasury Management from the National Institute of Public Finance and Pepperdine School of Management. Sarah loves spending time outdoors with her husband Max, son Hartley, and their rescue dog Tanner. In addition, Sarah enjoys cheering on Wisconsin sports teams and is a proud Packers shareholder.





 


Office of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin
State Capitol Building • Room B41 West
Madison, WI 53703

The Office of the Secretary of State is happy to provide apostille and authentication services. The fee for standard service (5-10+ business days of processing time, or two weeks) is $10 per document. We do also offer expedited service (1-2 business day processing time) for $35 per document. These estimated times do not include mailing or shipping times, and are subject to change based upon staffing availability and volume of submissions.

If you have been waiting for your standard document for one month or more, or for your expedited document for more than one week, please email us at apostilles@wisconsin.gov for an update. Please include date of shipment, last name on the order form, and country for which the document was requested to be authenticated.

The Office of the Secretary of State is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 12pm and from 1pm to 4:30pm.


Any document(s) requiring expedited service that include the appropriate fees ($35 per document) can generally be available for pick up same-day. We can advise you of the wait time for your document(s) at drop-off. Same-day service cannot be guaranteed for documents received after 2pm.


Standard documents ($10 per document) will be placed into the general queue for processing. Order forms and envelopes are provided for your convenience; and we are able to accept cash, check, or money orders for payment. Unfortunately we are unable to accept credit card payments at this time.


Please take note that we are closed for the lunch hour from 12pm-1pm.


The phone lines will remain open from 8:30am-12:00pm and from 1:00pm-4:30pm, and we will continue to respond to email during working hours. We are currently continuing to process documents received via USPS, UPS, FedEx, and other couriers.


How soon can I get my Apostille or Authentication?

About the Office:

The Office of the Secretary of State is headed by an elected Secretary of State, whose term of office is four years. Wisconsin's Constitution requires the Secretary of State to maintain the official acts of the Legislature and Governor, and to keep the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin and affix it to all official acts of the Governor. In addition, the Office administers program responsibilities set forth in approximately 100 sections of the Wisconsin Statutes, issuing authentications and apostilles; filing oaths of office; and filing deeds for state lands and buildings.


The Secretary of State is a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL).



Public Records:

These Wisconsin documents are among those preserved in the Office of the Secretary of State:

  • City, Village and Town Records *(available on-line)
  • Forest Land Deeds *(available on-line)
  • Wisconsin Blue Books (Complete set dating from 1853)
  • Statutes and Laws of Wisconsin (Dating from 1836)

* These Databases are maintained by the Office of the Secretary of State and can be accessed on-line at sos.wi.gov. If you wish to obtain a copy of an entire database, please contact:


The Office of the Secretary of State
P.O. Box 7848
Madison, WI 53707 - 7848
608-266-8888, then press 4
statesec@wi.gov

There will be a programming charge to format the database to meet your specific needs.