227.20 Filing of rules.

(1) An agency shall file a certified copy of each rule it promulgates with the legislative reference bureau. No rule is valid until the certified copy has been filed. A certified copy shall be typed or duplicated on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, leaving sufficient room for a stamp at the top of the first page. Forms that are filed need not comply with the specifications of this subsection. The agency shall also send a copy of each rule to the legislative reference bureau in an electronic format approved by the legislative reference bureau.

(2) The legislative reference bureau shall endorse the date and the time of filing on each certified copy filed under sub. (1). The bureau shall keep a file of all certified copies filed under sub. (1).

(3) Filing a certified copy of a rule with the legislative reference bureau creates a presumption of all of the following:

(a) That the rule was duly promulgated by the agency.

(b) That the rule was filed and made available for public inspection on the date and time endorsed on it.

(c) That all of the rule-making procedures required by this chapter were complied with, except as provided in s. 186.118 (2) (c) or (3) (b) 3.

(d) That the text of the certified copy of the rule is the text as promulgated by the agency.

History: 1985 a. 182; 1993 a. 214; 2005 a. 249; 2007 a. 20; 2013 a. 20, 277.

Cross-reference: See s. 902.03 for provision for judicial notice of administrative rules.

Guidelines promulgated outside the context of one particular contested case do not qualify for exception to the requirement that all rules must be filed under s. 227.023 [now s. 227.20]. Here, failure to file the guideline as a rule did not deprive the department of the authority to decide contested cases dealing with pregnancy leaves under the sex discrimination statute. Wisconsin Telephone Co. v. Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations, 228 NW 2d 649, 68 Wis. 2d 345, (1975).

Sub. (3) directs a court to presume that the rule was duly promulgated by the agency and that all statutory rule-making procedures have been followed, including those pertaining to the preparation of a housing impact report. This section apparently creates a rebuttable presumption that a court is to presume that the agency that promulgated the rule followed the statute regarding housing reports, but a party challenging the rule may rebut that presumption. The statute also requires courts to respect the legislature's role in reviewing and approving agency rules by presuming the validity of rules that have survived the legislature's scrutiny. Wisconsin Realtors Association v. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, 2015 WI 63, 363 Wis. 2d 430, 867 N.W.2d 364, 13-1407.