On January 1, 2008 the Revisor of Statutes Bureau will cease to exist and the Legislative Reference Bureau will assume responsibility for the Revisor's duties. This web page will continue to exist after January 1, 2008.
If you have questions about the transfer of duties, call Steve Miller at 608-267-2175.

About the Revisor of Statutes Bureau

Excerpted from the 2005-2006 Wisconsin Blue Book

Revisor of Statutes: Bruce Munson, (608) 267-3536.
Deputy Revisor and Assistant Revisor, Statutes: Bruce J. Hoesly, (608) 266-7590.
Assistant Revisor, Administrative Code: Gary L. Poulson, (608) 266-7275.
Send Email to the Revisor's Bureau
Mailing Address: Suite 800, 131 West Wilson Street, Madison 53703-3261.
Telephone: (608) 266-2011.
Fax: (608) 264-6978.
Internet Address: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/index.html.
Publications: Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations; Wisconsin Administrative Code and Register; Wisconsin Town Law Forms; WisLaw^® on CD-ROM.
Number of Employees: 10.00.
Total Budget 2003-2005: $1,681,200. Statutory Reference: Section 13.93.

Agency Responsibility: The Revisor of Statutes Bureau edits and publishes the Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations, prepares revision and corrections bills, edits and publishes the Wisconsin Administrative Code and Register, and performs related law publishing and advisory functions.

The bureau incorporates newly enacted laws into the existing statutes, thereby updating the state’s statutory code. The statutes are published every 2 years when the legislature completes its session, but during the legislative session the bureau also releases quarterly updated versions of the statutes on WisLaw^®, its CD-ROM periodical, and on its internet site.

The bureau prepares revisor’s corrections bills to correct errors or to resolve conflicts arising from the enactment of laws. It reviews attorney general's opinions, federal district and appellate court decisions, and state appellate or supreme court decisions that declare a Wisconsin statute or session law to be ambiguous, in conflict with other laws, anachronistic, unconstitutional or otherwise in need of revision. These findings are reported to the Joint Legislative Council's Law Revision Committee. The revisor also systematically examines the statutes and session laws for similar defects and proposes revision bills to the Law Revision Committee.

The bureau edits and publishes the Wisconsin Administrative Code and the semimonthly Wisconsin Administrative Register, which contains rule hearing and publication notices and summaries of emergency rules. It also prepares the Wisconsin Town Law Forms distributed to town officials to aid them in administering town government. These publications are also published on WisLaw^® and the bureau's internet site.

The revisor and all bureau staff are members of the classified service.

Organization: The Joint Committee on Legislative Organization is the policymaking body for the bureau and appoints the revisor. The revisor and all bureau staff are members of the classified service.

History: Wisconsin was the first state to adopt a plan for continuous revision of its statutes when Chapter 546, Laws of 1909, provided for a Revisor of Statutes to be appointed by the trustees of the state library. The editing and distribution of the Wisconsin Administrative Code and Register were added to the revisor’s duties in 1955, but the responsibility for sale and distribution of these documents was transferred in 1963 to the Department of Administration. Chapter 149, Laws of 1963, moved the revisor to the legislative branch by creating the Statutory Revision Bureau under the supervision of the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization. A 1965 law renamed the bureau the Revisor of Statutes Bureau.