Circuit courts
Statutory addition of circuit court branches designated to begin operation
in 2021
The bill adds four new circuit court branches to the statutory list of judicial
circuit branches, as authorized by the Director of State Courts and designated to
begin operation in 2021.
Current law contains a list that sets forth the number of branches each judicial
circuit has.
2019 Wisconsin Act 184 authorized the Director of State Courts to add
four circuit court branches, by November 14, 2020, to begin operation on August 1,
2021. Act 184 further authorized the Director of State Courts to allocate one of the
newly authorized branches to any county the Director of State Courts determined to
be in need of an additional circuit court branch, but only if the county passed a
resolution requesting an additional circuit court branch and established, or will have
established by May 31, 2021, the appropriate infrastructure to support an additional
circuit court branch. Act 184 also authorized the Director of State Courts to require
any county, as a condition for receiving a circuit court branch allocation, to have
established or to apply for a grant to establish a drug court. In March 2020, the
Director of State Courts allocated new circuit court branches to Calumet, Dunn,
Jackson, and Marathon Counties. The bill updates the list of circuit court branches
to reflect the additional four circuit court branches allocated by the Director of State
Courts and authorized to begin operation on August 1, 2021.
District attorneys
Increase in deputy district attorney allocation
The bill increases the number of deputy district attorneys that may be
appointed in a prosecutorial unit with a population of more than 200,000 but less
than 750,000 from three deputy district attorneys to four deputy district attorneys.
General courts and procedure
Extreme risk protection injunctions
Under current law, a person is prohibited from possessing a firearm and must
surrender all firearms if the person is subject to a domestic abuse injunction, a child
abuse injunction, or, in certain cases, a harassment or an individuals-at-risk
injunction. If a person surrenders a firearm because he or she is subject to one of
those injunctions, the firearm may not be returned until a court determines that the
injunction has been vacated or has expired and that the person is not otherwise
prohibited from possessing a firearm. A person who possesses a firearm in violation
of the injunction is guilty of a Class G felony.
The bill creates an extreme risk protection temporary restraining order and an
extreme risk protection injunction. Such an order or injunction prohibits a person
from possessing a firearm because he or she is a danger to himself or herself or
another. Under the bill, only a law enforcement officer or a family or household
member of the person may file a petition for an extreme risk protection injunction.
If a court receives such a petition, the court must schedule an injunction hearing.
The court also must issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting the person from
possessing a firearm and ordering the person to surrender all firearms if the court
finds reasonable grounds that the person is substantially likely to injure himself or
herself or another person if he or she possesses a firearm. If a temporary restraining
order is issued, it remains in effect until the injunction hearing. At the injunction
hearing, the court may grant an extreme risk protection injunction ordering the
person to refrain from possessing a firearm and to surrender all firearms if the court
finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is substantially likely to injure
himself or herself or another person if the person possesses a firearm. Under the bill,
an extreme risk protection injunction is effective for up to one year and may be
renewed. A person who is subject to an extreme risk protection injunction may
petition to vacate the injunction. A person who possesses a firearm in violation of
an extreme risk protection temporary restraining order or injunction is guilty of a
Class G felony.
Under the bill, a person who files a petition for an extreme risk protection
injunction, knowing the information in the petition to be false, is guilty of the crime
of false swearing, a Class H felony.
Qui tam actions for false claims
The bill restores a private individual's authority to bring a qui tam claim
against a person who makes a false or fraudulent claim for medical assistance, which
was eliminated in
2015 Wisconsin Act 55, and further expands qui tam actions to
include any false or fraudulent claims to a state agency. A qui tam claim is a claim
initiated by a private individual on his or her own behalf and on behalf of the state
against a person who makes a false claim relating to medical assistance or other
moneys from a state agency. The bill provides that, of moneys recovered as a result
of a qui tam claim, a private individual may be awarded up to 30 percent of the
amount recovered, depending upon the extent of the individual's contribution to the
prosecution of the action. The individual may also be entitled to reasonable expenses
incurred in bringing the action, as well as attorney fees. The bill also includes
additional changes not included in the prior law to incorporate provisions enacted
in the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and conform state law to the federal False
Claims Act, including expanding provisions to facilitate qui tam actions and
modifying the bases for liability to parallel the liability provisions under the federal
False Claims Act. DOJ also has independent authority to bring a claim against a
person for making a false claim for medical assistance. The bill modifies provisions
relating to DOJ's authority to parallel the liability and penalty standards relating
to qui tam claims and to parallel the forfeiture amounts provided under the federal
False Claims Act.
crimes
Expungement of criminal records
Under current law, a court may order a person's criminal record expunged of a
crime if all of the following apply: 1) the maximum term of imprisonment for the
crime is not more than six years, which is a Class H felony and below; 2) the person
committed the crime before the age of 25; 3) the person had not been previously
convicted of a felony; and 4) the crime was not a violent felony. Current law specifies
that the expungement order must be made only at sentencing and then the record
is expunged when the person completes his or her sentence. If the court does not
order expungement at sentencing, the record may not be expunged.
The bill removes the condition that the person committed the crime before the
age of 25 (the bill retains the other requirements that the crime be no greater than
a Class H felony, the person had no previous felony convictions, and the crime was
not a violent felony) and makes certain traffic crimes ineligible for expungement.
The bill also provides that, if the sentencing court did not order the record expunged,
the person may file a petition with the sentencing court after he or she completes his
or her sentence. Upon receipt of the petition, the court must review the petition and
then may order the record expunged or may deny the petition. If the court denies the
petition, the person may not file another petition for two years, and no person may
file more than two petitions per crime. The changes described in this paragraph
retroactively apply to persons who were convicted of a crime before the bill takes
effect.
The bill also allows the sentencing court to order that a person's record not be
eligible for expungement.
The bill provides that, if a record is expunged of a crime, that crime is not
considered a conviction for employment purposes and specifies that employment
discrimination because of a conviction record includes requesting a person to supply
information regarding a crime if the record has been expunged of the crime.
Drug paraphernalia
Under current law, it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or deliver drug
paraphernalia. Drug paraphernalia is anything that is used in planting,
propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding,
converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging,
repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, or introducing into the human body a
controlled substance. Drug paraphernalia excludes hypodermic syringes, needles
and other objects used in parenterally injecting substances into the human body, and
any items that are designed for use with tobacco products. Under the bill, drug
paraphernalia also excludes any materials used to test for the presence of fentanyl
in a substance.
Maximum penalty for a Class D felony
The bill reduces the maximum sentence for a Class D felony. Under current law,
the sentencing court has discretion in setting the length of confinement and the
length of extended supervision, but both the total length of the sentence and the
length of extended supervision are capped on the basis of the classification of the
crime committed, and generally the length of confinement may not be more than 75
percent of the total sentence. The bill reduces the length of the total possible
sentence for a Class D felony from 25 years to 20 years and the length of possible
extended supervision from 10 years to 5 years.
Penalty for bail jumping
Under current law, bail jumping means failure to comply with the terms of a
bond after being released from custody in a pending criminal matter. Bail jumping
for a defendant who has been released on bond after being charged with a crime is
a Class A misdemeanor if the offense with which the defendant is charged is a
misdemeanor and a Class H felony if the offense with which the defendant is charged
is a felony, and bail jumping for a witness for whom bail has been required is a Class
I felony. Under the bill, any bail jumping violation is a Class A misdemeanor,
regardless of the underlying offense or whether the individual is a defendant or
witness.
Alternatives to prosecution for disorderly conduct
The bill creates a requirement that a prosecutor offer to certain disorderly
conduct defendants a deferred prosecution agreement or an agreement in which the
defendant stipulates to his or her guilt of a noncriminal ordinance violation. Under
the bill, a prosecutor must offer such options to a person who has committed a
disorderly conduct violation if it is the person's first disorderly conduct violation, the
person has not committed a similar violation previously, and the person has not
committed a felony in the previous three years. Under the bill, if the person is offered
a deferred prosecution agreement, he or she must be required to pay restitution, if
applicable.
Immunity for certain controlled substances offenses
Current law grants immunity from prosecution for possessing a controlled
substance to a person, called an aider, who summons or provides emergency medical
assistance to another person because the aider believes the other person is suffering
from an overdose or other adverse reaction to a controlled substance. Under
2017
Wisconsin Act 33, an aider was also immune from having probation, parole, or
extended supervision revoked for possessing a controlled substance under the same
circumstances. Act 33 also granted the aided person immunity from having
probation, parole, or extended supervision revoked for possessing a controlled
substance when an aider seeks assistance for the aided person. The immunity
applied only if the aided person completes a treatment program as part of his or her
probation, parole, or extended supervision. Act 33 also provided that a prosecutor
must offer an aided person who is subject to prosecution for possessing a controlled
substance a deferred prosecution agreement if the aided person completes a
treatment program.
The expanded immunities under
2017 Wisconsin Act 33 were temporary, and
expired on August 1, 2020. The bill permanently restores these expanded
immunities from
2017 Wisconsin Act 33.
education
Primary and secondary education: general school aids and revenue limits
Two-thirds funding for school districts; appropriation for general school
aid
Currently, the amount appropriated each fiscal year for general school aid is a
sum set by law. Beginning in the 2021-22 school year, the bill directs DPI, DOA, and
the Legislative Fiscal Bureau annually to jointly certify to JCF an estimate of the
amount necessary to appropriate in the following school year to ensure that general
school aids equal two-thirds of partial school revenues (in general, the sum of state
school aids and school property taxes). Under the bill, JCF determines the amount
appropriated as general school aids in each odd-numbered fiscal year and the
amount is set by law in each even-numbered fiscal year.
School district revenue limits; per pupil increase
Current law generally limits the total amount of revenue per pupil that a school
district may receive from general school aids and property taxes in a school year to
the amount of revenue allowed per pupil in the previous school year plus a per pupil
adjustment, if any, as provided by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the per pupil
adjustment was a $179 increase. Under current law, there is no per pupil adjustment
in the 2021-22 school year and thereafter.
For purposes of calculating school district revenue limits, the bill provides a per
pupil increase of $200 for the 2021-22 school year and $204 for the 2022-23 school
year. Under the bill, in the 2023-24 school year and thereafter, the per pupil
adjustment is the per pupil increase for the previous school year as adjusted for any
increase in the consumer price index.
School district revenue limits; number of pupils enrolled in the 2020-21
school year
One factor used to calculate a school district's revenue limit is a three-year
rolling average of the school district's pupil enrollment. For example, both the
average of a school district's 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 pupil enrollments and
the average of the school district's 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 pupil enrollments
will be used to calculate the school district's 2021-22 school year revenue limit. In
each applicable school year, a school district's pupil enrollment is based on a pupil
count that occurs on the third Friday in September and 40 percent of the school
district's summer school enrollment.
Under the bill, for purposes of determining a school district's revenue limit in
the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 school years, a school district's pupil enrollment
for the 2020-21 school year is the sum of the pupil count that occurred on the third
Friday of the 2019-20 school year or the 2020-21 school year, whichever is greater
and 40 percent of the school district's summer enrollment in the 2019-20 school year
or 2020-21 school year, whichever is greater.
Low revenue ceiling; per pupil amount
Current law provides a minimum per pupil revenue limit for school districts,
known as the revenue ceiling. Under current law, the per pupil revenue ceiling is
$10,000 in the 2020-21 school year and each school year thereafter. The bill
increases the per pupil revenue ceiling to $10,250 for the 2021-22 school year and
to $10,500 for the 2022-23 school year and each school year thereafter.
Low revenue ceiling; restrictions
Current law provides that during the three school years following a school year
in which an operating referendum fails in a school district, the school district's
revenue ceiling is the revenue ceiling that applied in the school year during which
the referendum was held. The bill eliminates the provision under which a school
district's revenue ceiling is the revenue ceiling from a previous school year because
an operating referendum failed in the school district.
Special adjustment aid; 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years
Under current law, a school district is guaranteed an amount of general
equalization aid equal to at least 85 percent of the amount it received in the previous
school year. Under the bill, in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, a school district
is guaranteed an amount of general equalization aid that is equal to at least 90
percent of the amount the school district received in the 2020-21 school year. The
guaranteed percentage returns to 85 percent in the 2023-24 school year.
Counting pupils enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten
The bill changes how a pupil enrolled in a four-year-old kindergarten is
counted by a school district for purposes of state aid and revenue limits. Under
current law, a pupil enrolled in a four-year-old kindergarten program is counted as
0.5 pupil unless the program provides at least 87.5 additional hours of outreach
activities, in which case the pupil is counted as 0.6 pupil. Under the bill, if the
four-year-old kindergarten program requires full-day attendance by pupils for five
days a week, a pupil enrolled in the program is counted as one pupil.
Eliminate delay of general aid payment
Under current law, DPI generally distributes state aid to school districts
quarterly according to the following schedule: 1) 15 percent of a school district's total
aid entitlement on the third Monday of September; 2) 25 percent on the first Monday
of December; 3) 25 percent on the fourth Monday of March; and 4) 35 percent on the
third Monday of June. However, under current law, the state delays paying
$75,000,000 of all state aid for a school year until the fourth Monday of July after the
end of the school year and reduces the amounts of all quarterly payments
proportionally to reflect the delayed payment amount. The bill eliminates the
delayed payment so that all state aid is paid on the regular quarterly schedule.
Primary and secondary education: categorical aids
Funding for special education and school age parents programs
The bill changes the rate at which the state reimburses school boards, operators
of independent charter schools, cooperative educational service agencies (CESA),
and county children with disabilities education boards for costs incurred to provide
special education and related services to children with disabilities and for school age
parents programs (eligible costs). Under current law, the full cost of special
education for children in hospitals and convalescent homes for orthopedically
disabled children is reimbursed. After those costs are paid, the remaining eligible
costs are reimbursed from the amount remaining in the appropriation account at a
rate that distributes the full amount appropriated. DPI estimates that, in the
2020-21 school year, the reimbursement rate is about 28 percent.
The bill changes the appropriation to a sum sufficient and provides that, after
full payment of hospital and convalescent home costs, the remaining eligible costs
are reimbursed at the following rates:
1. In the 2021-22 school year, 45 percent of eligible costs.
2. In the 2022-23 school year and in each school year thereafter, 50 percent of
eligible costs.
Currently, DPI provides 1) special education aid to school districts, independent
charter schools, CESAs, and CCDEBs; 2) aid to school districts, CESAs, and
CCDEBs for providing physical or mental health treatment services to private school
and tribal school pupils; and 3) aid for school age parent programs to school districts
only.
Per pupil aid
Under current law, per pupil aid is a categorical aid paid to school districts. Per
pupil aid is funded from a sum sufficient appropriation and is not considered for
purposes of revenue limits. Under current law, the amount of per pupil aid paid to
a school district is calculated using a three-year average of the number of pupils
enrolled in the school district and a per pupil amount set by law. In the 2020-21
school year, the per pupil amount is $742. Under the bill, the per pupil amount is
increased to $750 in the 2021-22 school year and each year thereafter.
In addition, beginning in the 2021-22 school year, the bill requires DPI to pay
a second amount of per pupil aid to school districts that is based on the number of
economically disadvantaged pupils enrolled in a school district. Under the bill,
beginning in the 2021-22 school year, in addition to the base amount of per pupil aid,
DPI must also pay a school district $75 for each economically disadvantaged pupil
enrolled in the school district in the previous year. However, in calculating this
amount for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, DPI must use the number of
economically disadvantaged pupils enrolled in a school district in the 2019-20 school
year instead of in the previous school year. Under the bill, an economically
disadvantaged pupil is a pupil who satisfies either the income eligibility criteria for
a free or reduced-price lunch under federal law or other measures of poverty, as
determined by DPI.
Supplemental per pupil aid
The bill eliminates supplemental per pupil aid, which was created under
2019
Wisconsin Act 9, the 2019 biennial budget.
Sparsity aid
The bill extends sparsity aid to school districts with a membership of more than
745 pupils.
Under current law, a school district is eligible for sparsity aid in the amount of
$400 per pupil if the school district's membership in the previous school year did not
exceed 745 pupils and the number of pupils per square mile in the school district is
less than 10. Current law also provides that a school district that was eligible to
receive sparsity aid in the previous school year but is not eligible to receive sparsity
aid in the current school year because the school district's membership exceeds 745
pupils in the current school year is eligible to receive up to 50 percent of the amount
of sparsity aid the school district received in the previous school year.
Under the bill, beginning in the 2021-22 school year, a school district with the
same density of pupils per square mile, i.e., less than 10, and a membership that
exceeds 745 pupils is eligible for sparsity aid in the amount of $100 per pupil. The
bill also provides that, beginning in the 2021-22 school year, a school district that is
ineligible for sparsity aid because it no longer satisfies the pupils-per-square-mile
requirement may receive 50 percent of the amount of sparsity aid the school district
received in the previous school year.
Limited-English proficient pupils; categorical aid
The bill changes the way that state categorical aid for educating
limited-English proficient pupils (LEP) is allocated.
Under current law, a school board is required to provide a bilingual-bicultural
education program to LEP pupils who attend a school in the school district if the
school meets any of the following thresholds:
1. Within a language group, 10 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in kindergarten
to grade three.
2. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades four
to eight.
3. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades nine
to 12.
All school boards are required to educate all LEP pupils, but only school boards
that are required to provide bilingual-bicultural education programs are eligible
under current law for categorical aid targeted toward educating LEP pupils.
Under current law, in each school year, DPI distributes $250,000 among eligible
school districts whose enrollments in the previous school year were at least 15
percent LEP pupils, and DPI distributes the amount remaining in the appropriation
account to eligible school districts on the basis of the school districts' expenditures
on the required bilingual-bicultural education programs during the prior school
year.
The bill expands eligibility for categorical aid to independent charter schools
and eliminates the limitation that only school boards that are required to provide
bilingual-bicultural education programs are eligible for categorical aid. Under the
bill, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, a school board that had at least one LEP
pupil enrolled in the school district in the prior school year, and the operator of an
independent charter school that had at least one LEP pupil attending the charter
school in the prior school year, receives $10,000. In addition, if the school board or
operator had more than 20 LEP pupils, the school board or operator receives an
additional $500 per LEP pupil above 20.
The bill also provides a temporary hold harmless provision for a school board
that would receive less categorical aid under the new funding scheme:
1. In the 2022-23 school year, a school board receives the greater of a) the
amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme, or b) an
amount equal to the amount of categorical aid the school board received in the
2020-21 school year.
2. In the 2023-24 school year, a school board receives the amount to which the
school board is entitled under the new funding scheme. In addition, if that amount
is less than the amount the school board received in the 2020-21 school year, the
school board also receives an amount equal to 50 percent of the difference between
the amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme and
the amount the school board received in the 2020-21 school year.
If, in any fiscal year, there are insufficient funds to provide the total categorical
aid amount, DPI must prorate the payments.
Capacity-building grants to increase licensure of bilingual teachers and
English as a second language teachers
The bill creates a grant program under which DPI may award grants, in
amounts determined by DPI, to school districts and independent charter schools to
provide support and financial assistance to their staff and teachers in obtaining
licensure or certification as bilingual teachers and teachers of English as a second
language.
Aid for pupil transportation
The bill increases the reimbursement rate to school districts and independent
charter school operators, beginning in the 2021-22 school year, for transporting a
pupil who lives more than 12 miles from the school the pupil attends from $365 per
school year to $375 per school year. Under current law, a school district that provides
transportation to pupils to and from summer classes may be reimbursed for certain
transportation costs, but, if a pupil is transported fewer than 30 days, that aid is
proportionately reduced. The bill eliminates the requirement that DPI reduce the
amount of state aid a school district receives for transporting a pupil if the pupil is
transported fewer than 30 days.
High cost transportation aid
Under current law, a school district that qualified for high cost transportation
aid in the previous school year but did not qualify in the current school year is eligible
to receive aid equal to 50 percent of the high cost transportation aid the school district
received in the previous school year, commonly called a “stop-gap” payment.
However, current law provides that, if the total amount of stop-gap payments to all
school districts in a school year exceeds $200,000, DPI must prorate the payments.
The bill eliminates that cap and instead provides that, if the total amount of high cost
transportation aid, including stop-gap payments, for a school year exceeds the
amount appropriated for high cost transportation aid for the school year, all high cost
transportation aid must be prorated.
School mental health and pupil wellness; categorical aid
The bill changes the types of expenditures that are eligible for reimbursement
under the state categorical aid program related to pupil mental health.
Under current law, DPI must make payments to school districts, independent
charter schools, and private schools participating in parental choice programs (local
education agency) that increased the amount they spent to employ, hire, or retain
social workers. Under current law, DPI first pays each eligible local education
agency 50 percent of the amount by which the eligible local education agency
increased its expenditures for social workers in the preceding school year over the
amount it expended in the school year immediately preceding the preceding school
year. If, after making those payments, there is money remaining in the
appropriation account for that aid program, DPI makes additional payments to
eligible local education agencies. The amount of those additional payments is
determined on the basis of the amount remaining in the appropriation account and
the amount spent by eligible local education agencies to employ, hire, and retain
social workers during the previous school year.
