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Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Grants for additional policing
This bill authorizes the Department of Administration to award one or more
grants to a city, village, town, or county for costs associated with additional policing
to address automobile theft and carjacking. DOA must give priority to cities,
villages, towns, or counties having a higher incidence of automobile theft or
carjacking. Grants may be used to cover up to four years of additional policing costs
but may not be used to supplant funding that is available from other sources.
The bill requires the governor to allocate at least $5,000,000 of the moneys
received under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to the additional
policing grant program. Before DOA may award grants using the allocated money,
DOA must submit a plan for the program to the Joint Committee on Finance for
approval. The plan must ensure that the grants will be distributed throughout all
geographic areas of Wisconsin and in both urban and rural communities.

The bill also includes a requirement that grant recipients submit reports to
DOA describing in detail how grant moneys were expended and the results of the
expenditures, including any impact on the number of persons arrested and charged
for automobile theft or carjacking.
Grants for strategic planning
The bill further authorizes DOA to award one or more grants to a city, village,
town, or county for costs associated with strategic planning to combat crime. Grants
may be used to cover up to two years of strategic planning costs but may not be used
to supplant funding that is available from other sources.
The bill requires the governor to allocate at least $5,000,000 of the moneys
received under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to the strategic
planning grant program. Before DOA may award grants using the allocated money,
DOA must submit a plan for the grant program to the Joint Committee on Finance
for approval. The plan must ensure that the grants will be distributed throughout
all geographic areas of Wisconsin and in both urban and rural communities.
The bill also includes a requirement that grant recipients submit a report to
DOA describing in detail how grant moneys were expended and the results of such
expenditures.
Grants for uniformed beat patrol and public safety goals
Under current law, the Department of Justice awards grants to cities to pay for
uniformed beat patrol law enforcement officers. The bill expands the grant program
to allow villages, town, and counties, in addition to cities, to apply for such grants and
to allow grant recipients to use grant funds to pay for law enforcement officers whose
primary duties relate to achieving a law enforcement or public safety goal. The bill
also eliminates the current-law cap of $150,000 per grant and eliminates the
requirement that DOJ award the grant to the applicants with the highest rates of
violent crime. The bill eliminates the current law that allows for grants to be
awarded for three consecutive years and instead requires annual applications. Also,
under the bill, a grant recipient that applies for an additional grant must provide a
statement to DOJ regarding its progress in achieving the goals for which the
previous grant was awarded.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB777,1 1Section 1 . 16.20 of the statutes is created to read:
AB777,3,3
116.20 Grants for additional policing and strategic planning. (1)
2Definition. In this section, “political subdivision” means a city, village, town, or
3county.
AB777,3,9 4(2) Additional policing. (a) From the moneys allocated under 2021 Wisconsin
5Act .... (this act), section 14 (1) (a ), the department shall award one or more grants
6to a political subdivision for costs associated with additional policing to address
7automobile theft and carjacking within the political subdivision. In awarding the
8grants, the department shall give priority to the political subdivisions having a
9higher incidence of automobile theft or carjacking.
AB777,3,1110 (b) No political subdivision may have more than a total of 4 years of additional
11policing costs funded by grants under par. (a).
AB777,3,1312 (c) The department shall ensure that no grant awarded under par. (a) is used
13to supplant funding available to the political subdivision from other sources.
AB777,3,1914 (d) Each political subdivision that receives a grant under par. (a) shall submit
15a report to the department no later than 2 years after receiving the grant and again
16no later than 4 years after receiving the grant. Each report shall describe in detail
17how the grant moneys were expended and the results of those expenditures,
18including any impact on the number of persons arrested and charged for automobile
19theft or carjacking in the political subdivision.
AB777,3,23 20(3) Strategic planning. (a) From the moneys allocated under 2021 Wisconsin
21Act .... (this act), section 14 (1) (b ), the department shall award one or more grants
22to a political subdivision for costs associated with strategic planning to combat crime
23within the political subdivision.
AB777,3,2524 (b) No political subdivision may have more than a total of 2 years of strategic
25planning costs funded by grants under par. (a).
AB777,4,2
1(c) The department shall ensure that no grant awarded under par. (a) is used
2to supplant funding available to the political subdivision from other sources.
AB777,4,63 (d) Each political subdivision that receives a grant under par. (a) shall submit
4a report to the department no later than 2 years after receiving the grant. The report
5shall describe in detail how the grant moneys were expended and the results of those
6expenditures.
AB777,2 7Section 2. 20.455 (2) (bm) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB777,4,98 20.455 (2) (bm) Law enforcement officer supplement grants — state funds. The
9amounts in the schedule for grants under s. 165.986 (1) (1m).
AB777,3 10Section 3. 20.455 (2) (kb) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB777,4,1611 20.455 (2) (kb) Law enforcement officer supplement grants. The amounts in the
12schedule to provide grants for uniformed law enforcement officers under s. 165.986.
13All moneys transferred from the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (1) (id) 3.
14shall be credited to this appropriation account. Notwithstanding s. 20.001 (3) (a), the
15unencumbered balance on June 30 of each year shall be transferred to the
16appropriation account under s. 20.505 (1) (id).
AB777,4 17Section 4. 165.986 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB777,4,18 18165.986 (title) Beat patrol and specialized officers; grant program.
AB777,5 19Section 5. 165.986 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 165.986 (1m) and
20amended to read:
AB777,5,721 165.986 (1m) The department of justice shall provide grants from the
22appropriations under s. 20.455 (2) (bm) and (kb) and from the moneys allocated
23under 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 14 (1) (a ) and (b),
to cities political
24subdivisions
to employ additional uniformed law enforcement officers whose
25primary duty is beat patrolling. A city is eligible for a grant under this subsection

1in fiscal year 1994-95 if the city has a population of 25,000 or more
or specialized law
2enforcement officers
. A city political subdivision may receive a grant for a calendar
3year if the city it applies for a grant before September 1 of the preceding calendar
4year. Grants shall be awarded to the 10 eligible cities submitting an application for
5a grant that have the highest rates of violent crime index offenses in the most recent
6full calendar year for which data is available under the uniform crime reporting
7system of the federal bureau of investigation.
AB777,6 8Section 6. 165.986 (1c) of the statutes is created to read:
AB777,5,99 165.986 (1c) In this section:
AB777,5,1010 (a) “Political subdivision” means a city, village, town, or county.
AB777,5,1311 (b) “Specialized law enforcement officer” means a law enforcement officer
12whose primary duties and assignments relate to achieving a law enforcement or
13public safety goal.
AB777,7 14Section 7. 165.986 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 165.986 (2) (intro.) and
15amended to read:
AB777,5,1816 165.986 (2) (intro.) A city political subdivision applying to the department of
17justice for a grant under sub. (1) (1m) shall include a submit to the department of
18justice all of the following:
AB777,5,23 19(b) A proposed plan of expenditure of the grant moneys that sets forth a
20strategy for applying the grant moneys toward the goals identified in par. (a). If
21grant moneys will be used for salary and fringe benefits of a specialized law
22enforcement officer, the plan must include a description of the officer's duties and
23their relation to the goals identified in par. (a)
.
AB777,6,6 24(2m) The grant moneys that a city political subdivision receives under sub. (1)
25(1m) may be used for salary and fringe benefits only. Except as provided in sub. (3),

1the positions for which funding is sought must be created on or after April 21, 1994,
2and result in a net increase in the number of uniformed law enforcement officers
3assigned to beat patrol duties
the date on which the application for the initial grant
4under sub. (1m) is submitted. The department may issue a grant in 2 annual
5payments, with the 2nd payment contingent upon the grant recipient's progress in
6meeting its goals as reported in sub. (4m)
.
AB777,8 7Section 8. 165.986 (2) (a) and (c) of the statutes are created to read:
AB777,6,108 165.986 (2) (a) Goals the political subdivision identifies toward which the grant
9moneys will be applied, using data that demonstrate specific problems and that may
10be used as a measurement of progress toward the goals.
AB777,6,1311 (c) If the applicant has received a previous grant under sub. (1m), a statement
12of its progress in reducing crime or achieving other goals related to the purposes for
13which it received the grant.
AB777,9 14Section 9. 165.986 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB777,6,2315 165.986 (3) During the first 6 months of the first year of a grant under sub. (1)
16(1m), a city political subdivision may, with the approval of the department, use part
17of the grant for the payment of salary and fringe benefits for overtime provided by
18uniformed law enforcement officers whose primary duty is beat patrolling or by
19specialized law enforcement officers
. A city political subdivision may submit a
20request to the department for a 3-month extension of the use of the grant for the
21payment of overtime costs. To be eligible to use part of the first year's grant for
22overtime costs, the city political subdivision shall provide the department with all
23of the following:
AB777,6,2524 (a) The reasons why uniformed law enforcement officers assigned to beat patrol
25duties or specialized law enforcement officers need to work overtime.
AB777,7,2
1(b) The status of the hiring and training of new uniformed law enforcement
2officers who will have beat patrol duties or of specialized law enforcement officers.
AB777,7,73 (c) Documentation that a sufficient amount of the grant for the first year will
4be available, during the period remaining after the payment of overtime costs, to pay
5the salary and fringe benefits of the same number of uniformed officers whose
6primary duty is beat patrolling or of specialized law enforcement officers that the
7grant originally planned to pay.
AB777,10 8Section 10. 165.986 (4) of the statutes is renumbered 165.986 (4) (a) and
9amended to read:
AB777,7,1910 165.986 (4) (a) The department shall develop criteria which, notwithstanding
11s. 227.10 (1), need not be promulgated as rules under ch. 227, for use in determining
12the amount to grant award to cities political subdivisions under sub. (1) (1m). The
13department may not award an annual grant under sub. (1) in excess of $150,000 to
14any city
criteria shall include, for each applicant, the rates of violent crime index
15offenses in the most recent full calendar year for which data are available under the
16uniform crime reporting system of the federal bureau of investigation and, if
17applicable, the applicant's success in using previous grants to reduce crime or
18achieve other goals set by the department. The criteria may also include the rates
19of nonviolent crime in the political subdivision
.
AB777,7,22 20(b) The department shall review any application and plan submitted under
21sub. (2) to
determine if that each application and, plan, and statement of progress
22submitted under sub. (2) (c) or (4m)
meet the requirements of this section.
AB777,8,2 23(c) The grant that a city political subdivision receives under sub. (1) (1m) must
24result in a net increase in the number of uniformed law enforcement officers assigned
25to beat patrol duties or the number of specialized law enforcement officers and
may

1not supplant existing local resources. The political subdivision may not reduce its
2expenditures as a result of receiving the grant.
AB777,11 3Section 11. 165.986 (4m) of the statutes is created to read:
AB777,8,64 165.986 (4m) A political subdivision that receives a grant under sub. (1m) shall
5submit, annually, or as requested by the department of justice, a progress report that
6includes all of the following:
AB777,8,97 (a) For each law enforcement officer whose position is funded wholly or in part
8by the grant, an activity report that includes proactive measures the officer has
9taken to achieve the goals identified under sub. (2) in the grant application.
AB777,8,1110 (b) Crime reporting information that compares rates of crime in the political
11subdivision at the time it received a grant and at the end of the reporting period.
AB777,8,1412 (c) Other information requested by the department that demonstrates the
13efficacy of the grant in reducing crime or achieving other goals identified by the
14political subdivision or set by the department.
AB777,12 15Section 12. 165.986 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB777,8,1916 165.986 (5) A city may receive a grant under sub. (1) for 3 consecutive years
17without submitting a new application each year.
For each year that a city political
18subdivision
receives a grant under sub. (1) (1m), the city political subdivision shall
19provide matching funds of at least 25 percent of the amount of the grant.
AB777,13 20Section 13. 165.986 (6) of the statutes is repealed.
AB777,14 21Section 14 . Nonstatutory provisions.
AB777,8,2222 (1) Allocation of federal ARPA funds received.
AB777,8,2323 (a) Additional policing.
AB777,9,2 241. Of the moneys the governor accepts from the federal government under s.
2516.54 pursuant to section 602 of the federal Social Security Act as amended by the

1federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, the governor shall allocate
2$5,000,000 for grants awarded under ss. 16.20 (2) and 165.986 (1m).
AB777,9,9 32. Before awarding a grant using moneys allocated under subd. 1., the governor
4and the department of administration shall submit to the joint committee on finance
5a plan for the grant program under s. 16.20 (2). The plan shall ensure that the grants
6will be distributed throughout all geographic areas of the state and in both urban and
7rural communities. If the committee approves or modifies and approves the plan, the
8department of administration shall implement the grant program in accordance
9with the plan as approved.
AB777,9,1010 (b) Strategic planning.
AB777,9,14 111. Of the moneys the governor accepts from the federal government under s.
1216.54 pursuant to section 602 of the federal Social Security Act as amended by the
13federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, the governor shall allocate
14$5,000,000 for grants awarded under ss. 16.20 (3) and 165.986 (1m).
AB777,9,21 152. Before awarding a grant using moneys allocated under subd. 1., the governor
16and the department of administration shall submit to the joint committee on finance
17a plan for the grant program under s. 16.20 (3). The plan shall ensure that the grants
18will be distributed throughout all geographic areas of the state and in both urban and
19rural communities. If the committee approves or modifies and approves the plan, the
20department of administration shall implement the grant program in accordance
21with the plan as approved.
AB777,9,2222 (End)
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