Tracking Wisconsin’s Constitution

State constitutions are amended far more frequently than the U.S. Constitution. While the U.S. Constitution has been amended only 27 times (and only 17 times since 1791), the nation’s state constitutions have been amended at least 7,000 times in all. Wisconsin is no exception. Since the Wisconsin Constitution’s ratification in 1848, the document has been amended nearly 150 times, resulting in more than 200 textual modifications. In other words, the Wisconsin Constitution reflects not just the work of its nineteenth century drafters, but the ongoing work of generations of Wisconsinites ever since.

This website allows you to explore the Wisconsin Constitution in two ways: by provision, allowing you to view the current text and history of every article and section of the constitution’s text; and by year, allowing you to view amendments and their context by year of adoption.

150
Amendments
Since 1848
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020

Explore by Provision

The Constitution’s provisions are organized into articles, and each article is split into sections. Here, you can view an outline of the Constitution, see the Constitution’s full text as it stood on any date since ratification, and compare any amended provision of the Constitution to its earlier version.

Explore by Year

View the constitution’s amendments by year of adoption and historical context for significant amendments.

The Wisconsin Constitution & Its Amendments

In 1848, voters in the Wisconsin Territory ratified the Wisconsin Constitution. The original copy of the Constitution, a handwritten document drafted by the delegates at the 1847 constitutional convention, is missing.

The Constitution ratified in 1848 is still in use today. However, it has also been amended 150 times.

To amend the Constitution, legislators in two successive legislative sessions must vote, by a majority in both houses, to pass the amendment and present the amendment to voters. Wisconsin voters then have the opportunity to ratify or reject the proposed amendment.
 

Wisconsin State Capitol. Carol M. Highsmith.

Additional Resources

Access links to commonly referenced sources in Wisconsin constitutional research.