Chapter 303

303.10(3)(c) (c) Perform supervised work on a project that serves the public interest or a charitable purpose and is operated by an organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under section 501 (c) (3) of the internal revenue code, but only if the work performed does not result in a competitive disadvantage to a for-profit enterprise.

303.10(4) (4) The sheriff shall not assign prisoners to work under sub. (3) on projects in a manner that results in the displacement of employed persons from their jobs or the replacement of workers on strike or locked out of work. Before prisoners assigned to work under sub. (3) begin work, the employer or other person in charge of a place of employment that is the site of the proposed work project shall post, at the locations where notices to employees are usually posted, a written notice informing employees that prisoners have been assigned under this section to work at the place of employment. If a collective bargaining agreement is in effect at a place of employment that is the site of a proposed work project under sub. (3) (c), that bargaining unit must agree to the assignment of prisoners at the place of employment before the assignment is made.

303.10(5) (5) Any intentional failure of a prisoner to report to or return from a work assignment is considered an escape under s. 946.42 (3) (a).

303.10(6) (6) Any prisoner employed under sub. (3) (a) shall reimburse the county for food, clothing and daily travel expenses to and from work for days worked. The county may collect moneys under sub. (8) or may seek reimbursement under s. 302.372, but may not collect for the same expenses twice.

303.10(7) (7) The sheriff shall collect the wages or salary of each prisoner employed under sub. (3) or require the prisoner to turn over the wages, salary or benefits in full when received. The sheriff shall deposit the wages, salary or benefits in a trust checking account and shall keep a ledger showing the status of the account of each prisoner. The wages or salary are not subject to garnishment in the hands of either the employer or the sheriff during the prisoner’s term, and shall be disbursed only as provided in this section; but for tax purposes they are income of the prisoner.

303.10(8) (8) The sheriff shall disburse wages, salary or benefits collected under sub. (7) using the priority order under s. 303.08 (5).

303.10(10) (10) An employer that employs a prisoner for work under this section shall pay the prisoner at a rate set by the county board by ordinance.

303.10(11) (11) 

303.10(11)(a) (a) Any officer, employee or agent of a county, employer or organization involved in the provision of any of the work camp options listed under sub. (3), and the county, employer and organization, are immune from civil liability for the death or injury of a prisoner caused by the good faith act or omission of the officer, employee or agent of the county, employer or organization related to carrying out any responsibilities under a work camp option.

303.10(11)(b) (b) The immunity under this subsection includes any good faith act or omission that occurs during the transportation of a prisoner to or from a work camp option listed under sub. (3).

303.10(11)(c) (c) The immunity under this subsection does not apply to any person whose act or omission involves reckless, wanton or intentional misconduct.

303.10 History History: 1995 a. 281.

303.16 303.16 County house of correction.

303.16(1) (1) The county board of any county may, pursuant to s. 301.37, establish, relocate and maintain within the county a house of correction for the reformation and employment of persons sentenced to confinement therein.

303.16(2) (2) The expenses of maintaining a house of correction under sub. (1), above all receipts for the labor of persons confined therein and for the support of prisoners therein whose support is not chargeable to the applicable county, shall be audited by the county board at its annual meeting, and paid out of the county treasury, and shall be raised, levied and collected as part of the ordinary expenses of the county.

303.16(3) (3) Any 2 or more counties may jointly provide for one county house of correction if each of the counties has a population of less than 750,000. Any jointly established house of correction is the county house of correction of each of the counties so joining. All of the county boards must agree before any action is taken under this section or s. 303.17.

303.16 History History: 1981 c. 314; 1989 a. 31 s. 1691; Stats. 1989 s. 303.16; 1993 a. 89; 2017 a. 207 s. 5.

303.17 303.17 Administration and management.

303.17(1) (1) The county board of supervisors shall control the management of a house of correction under s. 303.16, pursuant to such regulations and under the direct supervision and control of such officers as the county board of supervisors prescribes. No such regulation may be finally adopted on the day on which it is first presented to the county board of supervisors for consideration, nor until it has been considered and reported upon by the proper committee of the county board of supervisors. The county board of supervisors may by ordinance place the management of the house of correction under the control of the county department under s. 46.21 or 46.23, whichever is applicable, and in that event s. 46.21 or 46.23, so far as applicable, shall control. The county board of supervisors may by ordinance resume control of the management of the house of correction. The county board of supervisors shall, in accordance with the civil service law, prescribe the number and compensation of all personnel needed for the administration of the house of correction, and fix their duties.

303.17(2) (2) The chief judge of the judicial administrative district and his or her designees, district attorney and sheriff for the county and the mayor or other chief executive officer and the municipal attorney of its most populous city, village or town shall constitute a board of visitors, who shall investigate the affairs of the house of correction on the first Monday of August in each year, and report in writing to the county board of supervisors at its annual meeting, or to the county department under s. 46.21 or 46.23 if the county department is in charge of the institution, setting forth its condition, and suggesting such alterations, improvements or other matters respecting the management, discipline and government of the institution as may promote the purposes thereof and the interests of the county.

303.17 History History: 1977 c. 449; 1985 a. 176; 1989 a. 31 s. 1692; Stats. 1989 s. 303.17; 1993 a. 89.

303.17 Annotation Once a county establishes a house of corrections, county employees must perform the incarceration functions. There is no authority for a private security firm to perform these functions. OAG 1-96.

303.18 303.18 Commitments; municipal prisoners; contract with other county.

303.18(1) (1) Every court of record authorized to commit any person to the county jail upon conviction of any offense, or authorized to sentence any person to imprisonment in the Wisconsin state prisons for any term not exceeding one year, may, in lieu of the sentence, commit or sentence the person to the house of correction for an equivalent term, at hard labor. All mittimuses and warrants of commitment in those cases shall be directed to the superintendent of the house of correction and shall be the authority of the superintendent for the detention of the person sentenced or committed.

303.18(2) (2) Each city, village or town in the county shall, at a time designated by the county board, pay to the county the actual and reasonable costs of maintenance, as determined by ordinance of the county board, of all persons confined in the house of correction for the violation of any of the ordinances of the city, village or town during the preceding year, except that no costs are due for any period in which the person was also confined for reasons other than the violation of a city, village, or town ordinance.

303.18(3) (3) The county may contract with any other county, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by their respective county boards, to receive into the house any person who may be sentenced to confinement therein by any court of record of such other county; and thereupon, so long as the contract remains in force, every court of record in such other county authorized to commit or sentence any person to the county jail may, in lieu of the sentence or commitment, sentence or commit the person to the house for an equivalent term, at hard labor; and any officer to whom the process of commitment in the case is delivered for execution shall convey the person to the house and deliver the person, with the commitment papers, to the superintendent of the house; and thereafter the person shall be detained and treated by all persons, courts and officers as if sentenced and committed to the house by any court of record in the county in which the house is established.

303.18(4) (4) Whenever it appears that the continued presence of any person convicted of a felony and committed to the house of correction is detrimental to the person, or to other inmates, or to the discipline of the house of correction, the superintendent may immediately return the person to the committing court and the court shall sentence the person to the Wisconsin state prisons for the remainder of the term for which originally sentenced, less any credits for good behavior accumulated under s. 303.19. The person shall be given credit for time served prior to sentencing under s. 973.155, including good time under s. 973.155 (4).

303.18(5) (5) Whenever in the opinion of the superintendent of such house and the county physician in charge at the house, an inmate’s life is in jeopardy because of injury or disease or that the inmate is suffering from a disease that cannot be advantageously treated at the house, a temporary transfer of such inmate may be made on their order to the Milwaukee County Hospital, but notification of such transfer shall in all cases be given to the department and shall be subject to cancellation by it at any time.

303.18 History History: 1977 c. 305, 353, 418, 447; 1987 a. 388; 1989 a. 31 s. 1693; Stats. 1989 s. 303.18; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 246; 2019 a. 70.

303.19 303.19 Employment of prisoners; time credits, earnings and rewards.

303.19(1) (1) The superintendent of the house of correction shall place all inmates at such employments, and shall cause all inmates who are minors to be instructed in such branches of useful knowledge, as shall be prescribed by the county board, but no goods manufactured therein shall be offered for sale or sold in the open market, except creative art, literary, musical, handicraft or hobby craft products produced by a prisoner at leisure.

303.19(2) (2) The superintendent may employ such prisoners outside of the institution, for the purpose of cultivating the farm of the institution or in doing any other work necessary to be done in the regular business thereof, or doing work for other county departments or institutions, or in the construction of public highways within the county. In all such cases, the superintendent shall detail a force from the house of correction as the superintendent considers necessary to guard the prisoners.

303.19(3) (3) The superintendent shall keep a true record of the conduct of each prisoner, specifying each infraction of the rules of discipline; and at the end of each month shall give a certificate of good conduct to each prisoner against whom no such infraction is recorded, subject to annulment by the department for subsequent misconduct. Upon each such certificate issued to any such prisoner serving sentence for a misdemeanor the prisoner may be credited, at the discretion of the superintendent, with a diminution of the sentence not exceeding 5 days. Each such prisoner serving sentence for a felony shall receive time credits as provided in s. 302.11.

303.19(4) (4) The county board may, pursuant to its regulations approved by the department, extend to those prisoners similar pecuniary earnings and rewards, subject to similar conditions and limitations as those prescribed by s. 302.12 for prisoners in the Wisconsin state prisons.

303.19 History History: 1971 c. 36; 1977 c. 418 s. 924 (18) (e); 1983 a. 66; 1989 a. 31 s. 1694; Stats. 1989 s. 303.19; 1989 a. 359.

303.19 Annotation Discussing prisoners’ due process rights. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S. Ct. 2963, 41 L. Ed. 2d 935 (1974).

303.20 303.20 United States convicts. A county may contract with the United States for the keeping and support, within its house of correction, of all prisoners who are sentenced to imprisonment by the courts of the United States within this state, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by the county board and the officers of the United States having authority for that purpose.

303.20 History History: 1989 a. 31 s. 1695; Stats. 1989 s. 303.20; 1993 a. 89.

303.21 303.21 Compensation to injured prisoners.

303.21(1) (1) 

303.21(1)(a) (a) If an inmate of a state institution, in the performance of assigned work is injured so as to be permanently incapacitated or to have materially reduced earning power, the inmate may, upon being released from such institution, either upon release on parole or extended supervision or upon final discharge, be allowed and paid such compensation as the department of workforce development finds the inmate entitled to. The inmate shall be compensated on the same basis as if the injury had been covered by ch. 102, except that the total paid to any inmate may not exceed $10,000 and may be paid in installments. If the injury results from employment in a prison industry, the payment shall be made from the revolving appropriation for its operation. If there is no revolving appropriation, payment shall be made from the general fund. In case of dispute, the procedure for hearing, award and appeal shall be as set forth in ss. 102.16 to 102.26.

303.21(1)(b) (b) Inmates are included under par. (a) if they are participating in a structured work program away from the institution grounds under s. 302.15 or a secure work program under s. 303.063. Inmates are not included under par. (a) if they are employed in a prison industry under s. 303.06 (2), participating in a work release program under s. 303.065 (2), participating in employment with a private business under s. 303.01 (2) (em) or participating in the transitional employment program, but they are eligible for worker’s compensation benefits under ch. 102. Residents subject to s. 303.01 (1) (b) are not included under par. (a) but they are eligible for worker’s compensation benefits under ch. 102.

303.21(2) (2) Section 102.29 applies to compensation paid under this section.

303.21(3) (3) This section does not apply if the inmate has made a recovery against an officer, employee or agent of the state, arising out of the same incident under s. 895.46. If recovery has already been made under this section at the time that a recovery is made under s. 895.46, the state is entitled to a credit in the amount of the recovery against any obligation it has under s. 895.46 arising out of the same incident.

303.21 History History: 1975 c. 147 s. 54; 1975 c. 199; 1977 c. 29, 195; 1981 c. 20; 1985 a. 29; 1989 a. 31 s. 1696; Stats. 1989 s. 303.21; 1993 a. 81; 1995 a. 27 ss. 6400, 6401, 9130 (4); 1995 a. 416; 1997 a. 3, 283.

303.21 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also LIRC, Wis. adm. code.

303.21 Annotation Compensation of prisoners for injuries under this section is not determined in the same manner as worker’s compensation under s. 102.03. The rules followed under s. 102.03 do not apply. Kopacka v. DILHR, 49 Wis. 2d 255, 181 N.W.2d 487 (1970).

303.215 303.215 Compensation to prisoners or residents injured in prison industries employment. In accordance with s. 102.03 (2), for an inmate of a state institution or a resident subject to s. 303.01 (1) (b) employed under s. 303.06 (2), compensation under ch. 102 on being released from the applicable institution, on parole, on extended supervision, on final discharge or in accordance with ch. 938, whichever is applicable, is the exclusive remedy against the department and any employee of the department for any injury sustained by the inmate or resident while performing service growing out of and incidental to that employment. The department shall make any payments required under this section from the revolving appropriation for the operation of prison industries or, if there is no revolving appropriation for the operation of prison industries, from the general fund.

303.215 History History: 1993 a. 81; 1995 a. 27, 77; 1997 a. 283.

303.22 303.22 Work on Sundays and holidays. No prisoner, or resident subject to s. 303.01 (1) (b), may be compelled to work on Sunday or a legal holiday, except if the work is necessary household work or when the work is necessary to maintain the management or discipline of the institution.

303.22 History History: 1989 a. 31 s. 1697; Stats. 1989 s. 303.22; 1995 a. 27.