AB297: Bill Text

2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE

LRB-3171/1

CMH:skw

2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 297

May 30, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives Franklin, Mursau, Kaufert, O'Connor, Penterman and Knodl, cosponsored by Senators Wimberger and Cabral-Guevara. Referred to Committee on Corrections.

AB297,1,3 An Act to create 301.096 of the statutes; relating to: performance grants based on improving employment rates for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill requires the Department of Corrections to award performance grants to adult probation and parole offices based on increases in employment rates for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision in the regions the offices serve.

The bill provides a formula to determine the amount of funds each adult probation and parole office is eligible to receive under this performance grant program. Under the formula, DOC must calculate a baseline employment rate for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who reside in the region the office serves by averaging the annual employment rate for those individuals in fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. Then, on July 1 of each fiscal year, DOC must calculate the employment rate for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who reside in the region the office serves for the fiscal year that just ended. DOC must subtract the baseline employment rate from the employment rate for the fiscal year that just ended. If the difference is negative, the office is not eligible for a performance grant in the fiscal year that just began. If the difference is positive, the office is eligible for a performance grant in the fiscal year that just began that is equal to that difference multiplied by the number of individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who reside in the region the office serves, multiplied again by $2,500. Under the bill, an office that receives a grant must use the funds to provide bonuses for employees of the regional office.

The bill requires DOC to develop and publish outcome-based measures for each region such as the employment rate and the average length of employment for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision; the percentage and employment status of individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who are convicted of a crime while on the supervised status; the number and employment status of individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who complete their period of supervised status; the programs for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision that were created or eliminated; and an estimate of savings to the state as a result of reduced correctional costs due to lower crime rates among individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision.

The bill requires DOC to work with the offices to prepare annual reports for the legislature. The reports must be available to the public and must include information about the effectiveness of the performance grants based on outcome-based measures and recommendations regarding resource allocations or collaboration with other state, regional, or local entities or other regions for improvements to the performance grant program.

For further information see the state and local 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:

AB297,1 Section 1. 301.096 of the statutes is created to read:

AB297,2,3 301.096 Improving community supervision outcomes; employment. (1) Definitions. In this section:

AB297,2,5 (a) “Baseline employment rate” means the average of the employment rates for the fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.

AB297,2,8 (b) “Documentation of wage-earning hours” means employment records, pay stubs, employment letters, contracts, or similarly reliable methods of employment verification, as determined by the department.

AB297,3,2 (c) “Eligible employment” means an occupation or combination of occupations for which an individual can provide documentation of wage-earning hours in the amount of at least 130 hours in a 30-day period.

AB297,3,5 (d) “Employment rate” means the proportion of individuals who held eligible employment for at least 9 months if at least part of the 9 months was in a given fiscal year.

AB297,3,8 (e) “Evidence-based practices” means supervision policies, procedures, programs, and technology demonstrated by scientific research to reduce recidivism among individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision.

AB297,3,12 (f) “Marginal cost of incarceration” means the sum of all short-term variable costs associated with incarcerating an individual in a state facility. “Marginal cost of incarceration” includes only correctional costs that marginally change in proportion to the inmate population of a facility.

AB297,3,13 (g) “Region” means each jurisdiction that is covered by a regional office.

AB297,3,16 (h) “Regional office” means an adult probation and parole office that supervises individuals who reside under the office’s jurisdiction who are on probation, parole, or extended supervision.

AB297,3,19 (2) Grants. The department shall award grants to regional offices for improving community supervision outcomes. The amount that each regional office receives is based on the calculations under sub. (7).

AB297,3,22 (3) Allocation of grant moneys received. A regional office shall use the funds awarded under this section to provide bonuses for employees of the regional office.

AB297,4,3 (4) Oversight and reporting. (a) The department shall provide oversight of the grant moneys awarded to ensure that the disbursed funds are being used in accordance with the grant program under this section. The department shall maintain an accounting of all moneys awarded under this section.

AB297,4,9 (b) Beginning no later than the first day of the 19th month beginning after the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], and on each July 1 thereafter, the department shall work with regional offices to prepare and submit to the joint committee on finance a comprehensive, publicly available report on the implementation of the grant program under this section. The report shall include at the minimum all the following information:

AB297,4,11 1. The effectiveness of the grant payments based on the reports of outcome- based measures under sub. (5).

AB297,4,14 2. Any recommendations regarding resource allocations or additional collaboration with other state, regional, or local entities or other regions for improvements to the grant program under this section.

AB297,4,17 (5) Outcome-based measures. The department shall develop, track, and, in a publicly available report, publish the outcome-based measures for each fiscal year, including all of the following:

AB297,4,19 (a) The employment rate and average length of employment for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision in each region and statewide.

AB297,4,23 (b) The percentage of individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who are convicted of a new crime while on that supervised status for each region and statewide and whether the individuals who are convicted are employed or not.

AB297,5,4 (c) The number and percentage of individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision who successfully complete their period of supervised status for each region and statewide and whether the individuals who complete their period are employed or not.

AB297,5,7 (d) The number and types of programs for individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision that were created, modified, replaced, or eliminated in each region.

AB297,5,11 (e) An estimate of any savings to the state as a result of reduced correctional costs due to lower crime rates among individuals on probation, parole, or extended supervision, using the marginal cost of incarceration and the number of individuals convicted of a new crime while on supervised status.

AB297,5,14 (6) Data collection requirements. (a) The department shall calculate for each region and statewide the baseline employment rates for individuals on probation, for individuals on parole, and for individuals on extended supervision.

AB297,5,17 (b) On July 1 of each fiscal year, the department shall calculate for each region and statewide the employment rates for the preceding fiscal year for individuals on probation, for individuals on parole, and for individuals on extended supervision.

AB297,5,22 (7) Distributing incentive grants for performance. The department shall calculate the amount that each regional office is eligible to receive in the current fiscal year as a grant under this section for increasing probation, parole, and extended supervision employment rates for its region in the immediate past fiscal year as follows:

AB297,6,2 (a) Add the employment rates for individuals on probation, individuals on parole, and individuals on extended supervision for the region as determined under sub. (6) (b).

AB297,6,5 (b) Subtract from the sum under par. (a) the sum of the baseline employment rates for the region for individuals on probation, individuals on parole, and individuals on extended supervision determined under sub. (6) (a).

AB297,6,10 (c) 1. If the difference determined under par. (b) is positive, multiply the difference by the total number of individuals on probation, parole, and extended supervision in the region. Multiply that product by $2,500 to determine the amount that the regional office is eligible to receive under this section in the current fiscal year.

AB297,6,12 2. If the difference determined under par. (b) is negative, the regional office is not eligible for a grant under this section in the current fiscal year.

AB297,6,15 (d) If the moneys available for grants under this section in a fiscal year are insufficient to pay all amounts determined under par. (c) 1., the department shall establish a system to prorate the grants.

AB297,6,20 (e) If the department determines that the data required under sub. (6) are not of sufficient quality or are not the correct type, the department shall use the best available data to estimate probation, parole, and extended supervision employment rates using a method that is as consistent with that described in sub. (6) as is reasonably possible.

AB297,7,2 (f) Notwithstanding par. (c) 1., no regional office may be awarded a grant under this section if, in the previous fiscal year, its region had an increase in revocations based on the commission of new crimes.

AB297,7,3 (end)