Under current law, DOJ, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections
and the Department of Health Services, awards grants to counties or tribes that have
established qualifying treatment alternatives and diversion (TAD) programs that
offer substance abuse or mental health treatment services as alternatives to
prosecution or incarceration in order to reduce recidivism, promote public safety, and
reduce prison and jail populations.

Under current law, in order to qualify for a TAD grant, a county's or tribe's
program is required to match 25 percent of the grant, and a program is required to
charge participants a fee to participate. A county or tribe that receives a TAD grant
must create an oversight committee to administer and evaluate its program. DOJ
is required to make grants available to any county or tribe on a competitive basis
every five years. At the end of the five-year grant cycle, DOJ is required to prepare
a comprehensive report on the grant program based on annual reports and other data
it collects from the counties and tribes.

The bill makes several changes to the TAD grant program. Under the bill, a
program funded by a TAD grant need not focus solely on alcohol and other drug
treatment but must employ evidence-based practices targeted to the population
served by the program. The bill changes the match requirement from 25 percent to
10 percent and changes the competitive grant process to a four-year cycle. The bill
allows, but does not require, an eligible program to charge participants a fee for their
treatment. The bill also eliminates certain requirements pertaining to exposure of
genitals during drug testing.

Under current law, when a person pleads or is found guilty of certain drug
offenses, the court is required to order a substance use assessment. Under current
law, the court does not have to order an assessment if the person is already covered
by such an order, has recently completed an assessment under such an order, or is
participating in a TAD program. The bill specifies that if a person is participating
in any evidence-based substance use disorder treatment program as determined by
DOJ, regardless of its status relating to the TAD program, the court does not need
to order an assessment.

The bill provides an additional $15,522,000 of funding for TAD programs in the
2021-23 fiscal biennium.

The bill provides $20,000,000 in grant funding in the 2021-23 fiscal biennium
through DOJ to support community policing and community prosecution. In
awarding the grants, DOJ may consider the use of hot-spot policing practices to
address the needs of the community.

The bill provides $10,000,000 in grant funding in the 2021-23 fiscal biennium
through DOJ for violence prevention programs. Under the bill, DOJ must consult
with DHS to determine grant awards.

The bill increases by $5,000,000 in each fiscal year of the 2021-23 biennium the
funding for community services established by the Department of Corrections that
have the goals of increasing public safety, reducing the risk that offenders on
community supervision will reoffend, and reducing recidivism among people who are
on probation, parole, or extended supervision.

The bill provides to DOJ the following position authorizations:

1. Five additional positions for the alternatives to prosecution and
incarceration grant program.

2. Two additional positions for law enforcement officer training and wellness
initiatives.

3. Four additional positions for law enforcement toxicology services.

4. Two new investigators in the Division of Criminal Investigation.

5. Two additional assistant attorney general positions to prosecute violent
crimes.

6. Two positions for the Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women.

The bill also converts to permanent positions 2.0 full-time GPR attorney
project positions that assist the Division of Criminal Investigation in Wausau and
Appleton and assist district attorneys in prosecuting drug-related offenses.

The bill provides funding and authorization for several project positions that,
under current law, are funded with federal funds and are set to expire and for several
new positions in the Office of School Safety in DOJ. The new positions include four
resources center analyst positions for the Speak Up, Speak Out program. The bill
also provides 4,160 hours of funding in the 2021-22 fiscal year and the same amount
in the 2022-23 fiscal year for limited-term employees to review materials submitted
by schools in accordance with 2017 Wisconsin Act 143. That act required schools to
submit guidelines and procedures to address school violence, attacks, and threats,
individual safety plans for each school building and facility, and blueprints of each
school building and facility.

Currently, DHS must award crisis program enhancement grants to counties or
multicounty regions to establish crisis programs to serve individuals having crises
in rural areas in amounts that are half of the amount the counties or regions provide
to establish or enhance the program. The bill eliminates the limitation that the
grants be related to rural areas and the requirement that the county or region
provide moneys itself in order to receive a grant. The bill increases the amount of
funding for the program from $250,000 per fiscal biennium of general purpose
revenue to $15,000,000 per fiscal biennium. Additionally, the bill increases general
purpose revenue funding for grants for mental health and substance use services
grants and programs, including peer-run respite centers and opioid and
methamphetamine treatment programs.

This bill requires DOJ to develop an Internet-based reporting system and a
telephone hotline for the reporting of hate crimes. Under the bill, DOJ must conduct
a public education campaign on hate crimes and where to report them and must
collect data relating to the reporting of hate crimes. Under the bill, DOJ is required
to submit a biennial report to the legislature on the reporting of hate crimes.

The bill also provides additional funding for higher education and for special
education aid the Department of Public Instruction pays to school districts,
independent charter schools, cooperative educational service agencies, and county
children with disabilities education boards, for purposes of maintaining compliance
with maintenance of effort requirements of the federal Consolidated Appropriations
Act and the federal American Rescue Plan Act.