Chapter 891

891.43(4) (4) Records of lost plats or maps.

891.43(4)(a) (a) If the public record of any plat or map has been injured, lost or destroyed, the clerk of the circuit court shall, upon notification by the register of deeds of the injury, loss or destruction of the records, publish a class 3 notice under ch. 985 setting forth the facts of the injury, loss or destruction, together with a notice addressed to all whom it may concern that the circuit court will, at a specified time not less than 4 weeks from the first publication of the notice, proceed to take testimony for the purpose of reproducing and reestablishing the record of maps or plats it finds to be injured, lost or destroyed. All persons interested may appear and be heard.

891.43(4)(b) (b) If the court is satisfied that any public record of maps or plats has been injured, lost or destroyed, an order to that effect shall be entered and the court shall take testimony for the purpose of reproducing and reestablishing the record. Orders and judgments shall be made as to each map or plat separately. The clerk shall cause all maps or plats adjudged to be correct copies of the records lost, injured or destroyed to be filed and recorded in the office of the register of deeds, with an attached certified copy of the order or judgment. The record shall be taken in all courts as a prima facie correct reproduction of the original record. All costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings shall be taxed as costs against the county in which the proceedings are held.

891.43(5) (5) Chains of title. If the record or any part of the records of any county are destroyed, so that a connected chain of title cannot be shown, certified copies of all deeds, patents, certificates, plats and legal subdivisions of land in the county, in the custody or control of any officer of this state or of the United States, may be recorded in the register of deed’s office of the county, and the record shall have the same effect as the record of the originals of such instruments.

891.43(7) (7) Abstracts of title. If the records of any county are injured, lost or destroyed by fire, the judge of the circuit court of the county shall examine the state of the records, and if the court finds that any abstracts, copies, minutes or extracts exist after such injury, loss or destruction, and that the abstracts, copies, minutes or extracts were made before such injury, loss or destruction by any person in the ordinary course of business, and that they contain a material and substantial part of the records, the court shall certify the facts in regard to such abstracts of titles as found. If the abstracts, copies, minutes and extracts tend to show a connected chain of title to the land in the county, the court shall file an opinion with the clerk of the circuit court and the abstracts, copies, minutes and extracts, or certified copies, shall be admissible as prima facie evidence in all the courts of this state. The owner or keeper of the abstracts shall furnish to all parties so requesting certified copies of the abstracts.

891.43(8) (8) Reestablishment of title.

891.43(8)(a) (a) If the records of any county are injured, lost or destroyed, any court in the county with equity jurisdiction may inquire, upon notice to the parties interested, into the condition of any interest in any land in the county, and make all necessary orders and judgments to determine title.

891.43(8)(b) (b) Any person claiming an interest in land in the county at the time of the injury, loss or destruction of the records may maintain an action for a declaration of interest in real property under ch. 841. The complaint under s. 841.02 shall be published by the clerk of the court in which the complaint is filed as a class 3 notice under ch. 985.

891.43(12) (12) Record of new instruments. If any instrument in writing affecting title to land in any county is filed for record so short a time before the injury, loss or destruction of the records that no proof of it remains either on the records or among the abstracts, copies, minutes or extracts under sub. (7), it shall be the duty of the person having filed the instrument, within one year after the injury, loss or destruction, to rerecord the instrument, or, if that cannot be done, he or she may file a complaint to establish title under sub. (8) (b).

891.43(14) (14) Evidence to show title. In all cases under this section, and in all proceedings concerning any interest in land, when any party to the proceeding testifies that the original of any deed, conveyance or other written or recorded evidence relating to the title to the land has been lost or destroyed, or it is not in the power of the party wishing to use it on trial to produce it, and the record has been injured, lost or destroyed, the court shall receive any evidence that may establish the execution or contents of the deed, conveyance, record or other written evidence lost or destroyed, including any abstract of title made in the ordinary course of business before the injury, loss or destruction, showing the title or any part of title to the land.

891.43(15) (15) Record of deed in chain of title. If the records of any county have been injured, lost or destroyed so that a connected chain of title to any land cannot be shown, any person who can produce deeds showing a chain running back for 10 years or more may make an affidavit before the circuit court of the county to the effect that he or she is the person named as grantee in the last conveyance in the chain of title and that his or her immediate grantor has been in continual possession of the premises, which the affidavit shall completely describe, for not less than 10 years and he or she may record the affidavit and the deeds showing the chain of title in the office of the register of deeds. The deeds and affidavit or the record shall then be prima facie evidence that the affiant holds title to the land described in the deed or affidavit. For the purposes of constituting the possession required under this subsection, s. 893.26 (4) shall apply.

891.43 History History: 1927 c. 523 s. 115; 1965 c. 66; 1979 c. 90; 1981 c. 391 s. 210.

891.43 Note Legislative Council Note, 1979: In chapter 523, laws of 1927, the legislature withdrew s. 891.43 from the statutes. Section 891.43 is amended to reflect current statutory drafting practices, without any intention of making substantive changes in the law. In section 26 of this act, it is declared that s. 891.43 shall be printed in future editions of the statutes. [Bill 458-A]

891.44 891.44 Presumption of lack of contributory negligence for infant minor. It shall be conclusively presumed that an infant minor who has not reached the age of 7 shall be incapable of being guilty of contributory negligence or of any negligence whatsoever.

891.44 Annotation A refusal to instruct under this section was not error when no issue of the plaintiff’s negligence was presented by the pleadings or by evidence. Wagner v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., 65 Wis. 2d 243, 222 N.W.2d 652 (1974).

891.45 891.45 Presumption of employment-connected disease; heart or respiratory impairment or disease.

891.45(1) (1) In this section:

891.45(1)(a) (a) “County fire fighter” means any person employed by a county whose duties primarily include active fire suppression or prevention.

891.45(1)(b) (b) “Municipal fire fighter” includes any person designated as primarily a fire fighter under s. 60.553 (2), 61.66 (2), or 62.13 (2e) (b) and any person under s. 60.553, 61.66, or 62.13 (2e) whose duties as a fire fighter during the 5-year qualifying period took up at least two-thirds of his or her working hours.

891.45(1)(c) (c) “State fire fighter” means any person employed by the state whose duties primarily include active fire suppression or prevention and who is a protective occupation participant, as defined in s. 40.02 (48).

891.45(2) (2) Except as provided in s. 891.453, in any proceeding involving the application by a state, county, or municipal fire fighter or his or her beneficiary for disability or death benefits under s. 40.65 (2) or any pension or retirement system applicable to fire fighters, where at the time of death or filing of application for disability benefits the deceased or disabled fire fighter had served a total of 5 years as a state, county, or municipal fire fighter and a qualifying medical examination given prior to the time of his or her becoming a state, county, or municipal fire fighter showed no evidence of heart or respiratory impairment or disease, and where the disability or death is found to be caused by heart or respiratory impairment or disease, such finding shall be presumptive evidence that such impairment or disease was caused by such employment.

891.45 History History: 1977 c. 83; 1981 c. 278 s. 6; 1983 a. 191 s. 6; 1987 a. 399; 1987 a. 403 s. 256; 1997 a. 173; 2001 a. 16; 2009 a. 284; 2011 a. 32.

891.453 891.453 Presumption of employment-connected disease; infectious disease.

891.453(1) (1) In this section:

891.453(1)(a) (a) “Correctional officer” means any person employed by the state or by a county or a municipality as a guard or officer whose principal duties are the supervision and discipline of inmates.

891.453(1)(b) (b) “Emergency medical service provider” means a person employed by the state or by a county or municipality and who is an emergency medical services practitioner under s. 256.01 (5) or an emergency medical responder under s. 256.01 (4p).

891.453(1)(c) (c) “Fire fighter” means a state, county, or municipal fire fighter who is covered under s. 891.45 and any person under s. 60.553, 61.66, or 62.13 (2e) whose duties as a fire fighter took up at least two-thirds of his or her working hours.

891.453(1)(d) (d) “Law enforcement officer” means any person employed by the state or by a county or a municipality for the purpose of detecting and preventing crime and enforcing laws or ordinances, who is authorized to make arrests for violations of the laws or ordinances which he or she is employed to enforce. “Law enforcement officer” includes a person under s. 60.553, 61.66, or 62.13 (2e) whose duties as a police officer took up at least two-thirds of his or her working hours.

891.453(2) (2) 

891.453(2)(a) (a) In this subsection, “infectious disease” includes the human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, diphtheria, meningococcal meningitis, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

891.453(2)(b) (b) In any proceeding involving the application by a correctional officer, an emergency medical service provider, a fire fighter, or a law enforcement officer or his or her beneficiary for disability or death benefits under s. 40.65 (2) or any pension or retirement system applicable to correctional officers, emergency medical service providers, fire fighters, or law enforcement officers, if a qualifying medical examination given prior to the time of his or her becoming a correctional officer, an emergency medical service provider, a fire fighter, or a law enforcement officer showed no evidence of an infectious disease, and if the disability or death is found to be caused by an infectious disease, the finding shall be presumptive evidence that the infectious disease was caused by the employment.

891.453 History History: 2009 a. 284; 2011 a. 32; 2017 a. 12.

891.455 891.455 Presumption of employment-connected disease; cancer.

891.455(1) (1) In this section, “state, county, or municipal fire fighter” means a fire fighter who is covered under s. 891.45 and any person under s. 60.553, 61.66, or 62.13 (2e) whose duties as a fire fighter during the 10-year qualifying period specified in sub. (2) took up at least two-thirds of his or her working hours.

891.455(2) (2) In any proceeding involving an application by a state, county, or municipal fire fighter or his or her beneficiary for disability or death benefits under s. 40.65 (2) or any pension or retirement system applicable to fire fighters, where at the time of death or filing of application for disability benefits the deceased or disabled fire fighter had served a total of 10 years as a state, county, or municipal fire fighter and a qualifying medical examination given prior to the time of his or her becoming a state, county, or municipal fire fighter showed no evidence of cancer, and where the disability or death is found to be caused by cancer, such finding shall be presumptive evidence that the cancer was caused by such employment.

891.455(3) (3) The presumption under sub. (2) shall only apply to cancers affecting the skin, breasts, central nervous system or lymphatic, digestive, hematological, urinary, skeletal, oral or reproductive systems.

891.455(4) (4) The presumption under sub. (2) for cancers caused by smoking or tobacco product use shall not apply to any municipal fire fighter who smokes cigarettes, as defined in s. 139.30 (1m), or who uses a tobacco product, as defined in s. 139.75 (12), after January 1, 2001.

891.455 History History: 1997 a. 173; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 25; 2011 a. 32.

891.46 891.46 Mailed service. Unless otherwise specifically provided by statute or rule adopted under s. 751.12, summonses, citations, notices, motions and other papers required or authorized to be served by mail in judicial or administrative proceedings are presumed to be served when deposited in the U.S. mail with properly affixed evidence of prepaid postage.

891.46 History History: Sup. Ct. Order, No. 95-10, 195 Wis. 2d xv (1996).

891.46 Note Judicial Council Note, 1995: The purpose of this statute is to overrule the statement in Boeck v. State Highway Commission, 36 Wis. 2d 440, 444, 153 N.W.2d 610, 612 (1967), that “as a general rule in the absence of the statutory provision, ... service of notice would not become effective until the party received it.” The creation of this rule does not affect the presumptions and shifting of burdens of mailing articulated in State ex rel. Flores v. State, 183 Wis. 2d 587, 516 N.W.2d 362 (1994).