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One thing that the Law Library staff likes to track is the number of questions we get about a particular book, resource or database. One of of most frequently asked questions, year-in and year-out is..."Where are the Jury Instructions?"

Fortunately, the Law Library has a great answer to that question...in fact, we have two great answers!

First, did you know that the Wisconsin Jury Instructions are created right here in the Law School? That means the Law Library is home to the Jury Instructions in print in several locations. The Jury Instructions are broken down into three different parts: Civil, Criminal and Children. Each part will be shelved very closely together if not right next to each other, so if you find one, then you have probably found them all!

Here are the catalog records for each of the three Jury Instructions:

Civil

Criminal

Children

In brief, copies of the Jury Instructions in print can be found in our Reference Collection (on the 5th Floor and only for in-library use), behind the Circulation Desk (ask a Librarian for help in getting this copy...these are able to be checked out for a short period of time) and in the stacks (on the 2nd floor, South Wing...only older and superseded editions of the Jury Instructions are kept here. The current Jury Instructions are kept in the Reference and Circulation Desk locations).

Second, if you are unable to visit the Library and are affiliated with the University (read: you have an active NetID), then you are also able to access the Jury Instructions online! Fastcase, a legal research database, is the only place to find the Wisconsin Jury Instructions digitally at this link: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.web/Wisconsin-jury-instructions. You can do a 'Google' search across all the Jury Instructions, or you can browse by Instruction number by switching over to the 'Outline View' at the top of the homescreen. Check out the screenshot below to get a good idea of where and how to search on the Jury Instruction homepage. Either way, you can print, save and download the instructions that you are looking for from anywhere via your NetID!

Screenshot of Jury Instructions homepage

Most importantly, please feel free to ask a Reference Librarian for help in searching for or within the Jury Instructions if you are having trouble. Good luck with your juries and judges!

Submitted by Kristopher Turner on March 14, 2018

This article appears in the categories: Law Library

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