Offices, departments and independent agencies

Wis. Stat. § 15.02
in effect
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The constitutional offices, administrative departments and independent agencies which comprise the executive branch of Wisconsin state government are structured as follows: (1) Separate constitutional offices. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and state treasurer each head a staff to be termed the “office” of the respective constitutional officer. (2) Principal administrative units. The principal administrative unit of the executive branch is a “department” or an “independent agency”. Each such unit shall bear a title beginning with the words “State of Wisconsin” and continuing with “department of....” or with the name of the independent agency. A department may be headed by a constitutional officer, a secretary, a commission or a board. An independent agency may be headed by a commission, a commissioner or a board. (3) Internal structure. (a) The secretary of each department may, subject to sub. (4), establish the internal structure within the office of secretary so as to best suit the purposes of his or her department. No secretary may authorize the designation of “assistant secretary” as the official position title of any employee of his or her department. (b) For field operations, departments may establish district or area offices which may cut across divisional lines of responsibility. (c) For their internal structure, all departments shall adhere to the following standard terms, and independent agencies are encouraged to review their internal structure and to adhere as much as possible to the following standard terms: 1. The principal subunit of the department is the “division”. Each division shall be headed by an “administrator”. The office of credit unions in the department of financial institutions and the office of children’s mental health in the department of health services have the meaning of “division” and the director of credit unions in the department of financial institutions and the director of the office of children’s mental health in the department of health services have the meaning of “administrator” under this subdivision. 2. The principal subunit of the division is the “bureau”. Each bureau shall be headed by a “director”. The office of the long-term care ombudsman under the board on aging and long-term care and the office of educational accountability in the department of public instruction have the meaning of “bureau” under this subdivision. 2m. Notwithstanding subds. 1. and 2., the principal subunit of the department of tourism is the “bureau”, which shall be headed by a “director”. 3. If further subdivision is necessary, bureaus may be divided into subunits which shall be known as “sections” and which shall be headed by “chiefs” and sections may be divided into subunits which shall be known as “units” and which shall be headed by “supervisors”. (4) Internal organization and allocation of functions. The head of each department or independent agency shall, subject to the approval of the governor, establish the internal organization of the department or independent agency and allocate and reallocate duties and functions not assigned by law to an officer or any subunit of the department or independent agency to promote economic and efficient administration and operation of the department or independent agency. The head may delegate and redelegate to any officer or employee of the department or independent agency any function vested by law in the head. The governor may delegate the authority to approve selected organizational changes to the head of any department or independent agency.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/15.02Fetched: 10/7/2026