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News & Announcements: 2025
Check this page, or the News and Announcements box on the homepage, for the latest official news and announcements released by the court. You can also access archived news and announcements from this page.
10/21/2025
The Western District of Wisconsin is now operating in Phase 2 of its government shutdown plan. During Phase 1, the federal judiciary had been able to maintain full operations using funds other than annual congressional appropriations. But those funds were exhausted on Friday, October 17, 2025.
During Phase 2, which will continue for the duration of the shutdown, the court will continue its core constitutional functions, including the processing of civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases, and maintaining both pre-trial and post-trial supervision by the probation office. Most external users of the court will see no difference in our operations. We will hold hearings and trials, and jurors will be paid. All case deadlines remain in place unless otherwise ordered in individual cases. Pursuant to the Antideficiency Act, which bars most federal government expenditures during a lapse in appropriations, we will defer some important tasks, and we will institute limited staff furloughs...
10/20/2025
Judiciary Funding Runs Out; Only Limited Operations to Continue
10/10/2025
On September 26, 2025, the Canada Post announced a shutdown due to national labor actions.
Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) recipients in Canada have not received court-issued notices since then, and will not receive notices until Canada’s postal strike is resolved. Notices that contain “Canada” in the last line of the address are being bypassed by the BNC. As of October 2, the BNC will notify debtor’s attorney of mail that is bypassed as undeliverable and bypassed addresses are indicated as such on the BNC Certificate of Notice. Notices with the word “Canada” in the last line of the address were not bypassed between September 26 and October 1, 2025. Notices that were not bypassed have not yet been delivered.
The BNC will post updates to the Bankruptcy Noticing Center website about notice to Canada.
10/08/2025
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin will be closed on Monday, October 13, 2025, in observance of Columbus Day. CM/ECF will be fully operational and will be accepting electronic filings from registered users. The court will resume normal operations on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
10/03/2025
An administrative order has been issued regarding continuity of operations in absence of appropriated funds.
Please be advised that most proceedings and deadlines will remain in effect as scheduled. Cases involving an attorney from the U.S. trustee program or another executive branch agency that is not working because of the shutdown may have hearing and filing dates rescheduled.
See Administrative Order 452 for additional information.
09/17/2025
Effective January 1, 2026, the clerk's office will no longer accept cash payments.
Debtors may pay online (see public notice re: New Payment Option for Court Fees), money order, or cashier's check. Personal checks are not accepted.
Non-debtors may pay by money order, check, credit/debit card, or online. Please note that the Online Payment Form cannot be used by ECF filers for payments generated in ECF. If you incur a fee through ECF and try to make a payment through the Online Payment Form, your ECF account will be locked and prevent you from filing anything. It is very important that you continue to pay your filing fees through ECF as you have been and only use the Online Payment Form for fees that, until now, have been paid by mail, drop box, or at the intake counter.
Payments can be made at the clerk's office or mailed to: Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 120 North Henry Street, Room 340, Madison, WI 53703.
If you have a general question or require assistance with payment, please...
08/27/2025
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin will be closed on Monday, September 1, 2025, in observance of Labor Day. CM/ECF will be fully operational and will be accepting electronic filings from registered users. The Court will resume normal operations on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.
08/21/2025
On June 10, 2025, the Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (Standing Committee) approved publication of proposed amendments to the following:
• Appellate Rule 15;
• Bankruptcy Rule 2002, Official Forms 101 and 106C;
• Civil Rules 7.1, 26, 41, 45, and 81;
• Criminal Rule 17; and
• Evidence Rule 609 and new Rule 707.
The comment period is open from August 15, 2025, to February 16, 2026.
The proposals and supporting materials are posted on the U.S. Court’s website at: https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/proposed-amendments-published-public-comment
If you have questions about the rulemaking process or pending rules amendments, please contact the Rules Committee Staff at 202-502-1820 or via email at RulesCommittee_Secretary@ao.uscourts.gov.
07/16/2025
The courthouse in Eau Claire will temporarily close on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, from 8:00a.m. to 12:00p.m. due to building maintenance. CM/ECF will remain fully operational and accept electronic filings from registered users. If you require assistance during the closure, please contact the clerk’s office by phone at (833) 758-0380.
06/10/2025
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin will be closed on Thursday, June 19, 2025, in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day. CM/ECF will be fully operational and will be accepting electronic filings from registered users. The Court will resume normal operations on Friday, June 20, 2025.
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