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Mileage details

General information on mileage reimbursement

  • Travel time is reimbursed if any portion of the trip is outside the county in which the attorney’s principal office is located or if the trip requires traveling a distance of more than 30 miles, one way, from the attorney’s principal office.
  • Mileage (in-county & out-of-county) is paid at the rate set by the State of Wisconsin at the time the case was appointed provided the total miles for each trip claimed are itemized within the time slip.
  • SPD only pays for travel time relative to SPD clients.
  • Time slips that do not include itemized mileage and time of travel will not be reimbursed for mileage claims. Report mileage on the time slip line related to the travel.

Important notes

When reporting time to conduct business with multiple clients in the same location, enter all mileage and out-of-county travel time on one invoice (attorneys can choose which invoice.) Do not split the travel between clients or (if a client has more than one case) between cases for one client.

Auditors use Google Maps to verify reported mileage and reasonable travel time. If a trip takes longer than expected (bad weather, construction, etc.) the attorney should indicate the reason on the time slip.

In-county mileage 

Travel within one county should be entered on the time slip with the event for which it was incurred, indicating office to location and mileage.

  • Example: Mileage from Milwaukee Office to Milwaukee County Courthouse

Out-of-county travel and mileage

Single Stop Trip (Point A to Point B to Point A)

The following information must be included in the time slip entry:

  1. Departure/Court Time
  2. Departure City
  3. Destination City
  4. One-way (OW)/Round Trip (RT)
  5. Miles

Example: Madison Office to Waupun to visit client

Multi-Stop Trip (Point A to Point B to Point C to Point A)

The following information must be included in the time slip entry:

  1. Departure/Court Time (first leg only)
  2. Departure City (each leg)
  3. Destination City (each leg)
  4. Client Name (each leg)
  5. Total Miles

Example: Round-Trip from Madison Office to Waupun to see Client A then to Redgranite to see Client B then to Madison office

Alternate Stop Point

If the attorney begins the trip at some point other than their principal office, the attorney must provide the reason for leaving from the alternate point so as to justify the expense.

Example: Office in Madison – live in Cambridge – client in Jail in Jefferson County – 8:30 Court in Jefferson County