301.48(6)(b)2.2. A person may not file a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking earlier than 20 years after the date on which the period of lifetime tracking began. If a person files a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking at any time earlier than 20 years after the date on which the period of lifetime tracking began, the court shall deny the petition without a hearing.

301.48(6)(c)(c) Upon receiving a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking, the court shall send a copy of the petition to the district attorney responsible for prosecuting the serious sex offense that was the basis for the order of lifetime tracking. Upon receiving the copy of the petition, the district attorney shall conduct a criminal history record search to determine whether the person has been convicted of a criminal offense that was committed during the period of lifetime tracking. No later than 30 days after the date on which he or she receives the copy of the petition, the district attorney shall report the results of the criminal history record search to the court and may provide a written response to the petition.

301.48(6)(d)(d) After reviewing a report submitted under par. (c) concerning the results of a criminal history record search, the court shall do whichever of the following is applicable:

301.48(6)(d)1.1. If the report indicates that the person filing the petition has been convicted of a criminal offense that was committed during the period of lifetime tracking, the court shall deny the person’s petition without a hearing.

301.48(6)(d)2.2. If the report indicates that the person filing the petition has not been convicted of a criminal offense that was committed during the period of lifetime tracking, the court shall order the person to be examined under par. (e), shall notify the department that it may submit a report under par. (f) and shall schedule a hearing on the petition to be conducted as provided under par. (g).

301.48(6)(e)(e) A person filing a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking who is entitled to a hearing under par. (d) 2. shall be examined by a person who is either a physician or a psychologist licensed under ch. 455 and who is approved by the court. The physician or psychologist who conducts an examination under this paragraph shall prepare a report of his or her examination that includes his or her opinion of whether the person petitioning for termination of lifetime tracking is a danger to the public. The physician or psychologist shall file the report of his or her examination with the court within 60 days after completing the examination, and the court shall provide copies of the report to the person filing the petition and the district attorney. The contents of the report shall be confidential until the physician or psychologist testifies at a hearing under par. (g). The person petitioning for termination of lifetime tracking shall pay the cost of an examination required under this paragraph.

301.48(6)(f)(f) After it receives notification from the court under par. (d) 2., the department may prepare and submit to the court a report concerning a person who has filed a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking. If the department prepares and submits a report under this paragraph, the report shall include information concerning the person’s conduct while on lifetime tracking and an opinion as to whether lifetime tracking of the person is still necessary to protect the public. When a report prepared under this paragraph has been received by the court, the court shall, before the hearing under par. (g), disclose the contents of the report to the attorney for the person who filed the petition and to the district attorney. When the person who filed the petition is not represented by an attorney, the contents shall be disclosed to the person.

301.48(6)(g)(g) A hearing on a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking may not be conducted until the person filing the petition has been examined and a report of the examination has been filed as provided under par. (e). At the hearing, the court shall take evidence it considers relevant to determining whether lifetime tracking should be continued because the person who filed the petition is a danger to the public. The person who filed the petition and the district attorney may offer evidence relevant to the issue of the person’s dangerousness and the continued need for lifetime tracking.

301.48(6)(h)(h) The court may grant a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking if it determines after a hearing under par. (g) that lifetime tracking is no longer necessary to protect the public.

301.48(6)(i)(i) If a petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking is denied after a hearing under par. (g), the person may not file a subsequent petition requesting termination of lifetime tracking until at least 5 years have elapsed since the most recent petition was denied.

301.48(7)(a)(a) The department may file a petition requesting that a person’s lifetime tracking be terminated if the person is permanently physically incapacitated. The petition shall include affidavits from 2 physicians that explain the nature of the person’s permanent physical incapacitation.

301.48(7)(b)1.1. The department shall file a petition under par. (a) with the circuit court for the county in which the person was convicted or found not guilty or not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect or, in the case of a person described in sub. (2) (b), the circuit court for the county in which the person was found to be a sexually violent person.

301.48(7)(b)2.2. The department shall send a copy of a petition filed under subd. 1. to the district attorney responsible for prosecuting the serious sex offense that was the basis for the order of lifetime tracking or, in the case of a person described in sub. (2) (b), the agency that filed the petition under s. 980.02.

301.48(7)(c)(c) Upon its own motion or upon the motion of the party to whom the petition was sent under par. (b) 2., the court may order that the person to whom the petition relates be examined by a physician who is approved by the court. The physician who conducts an examination under this paragraph shall prepare a report of his or her examination that includes his or her opinion of whether the person is permanently physically incapacitated. The physician shall file the report of his or her examination with the court within 60 days after completing the examination, and the court shall provide copies of the report to the department and the party to whom the petition was sent under par. (b) 2. The contents of the report shall be confidential until the physician testifies at a hearing under par. (d). The department shall pay the cost of an examination required under this paragraph.

301.48(7)(d)(d) The court shall conduct a hearing on a petition filed under par. (b) 1., but if the court has ordered a physical examination under par. (c), the hearing may not occur until after the examination is complete and a report of the examination has been filed as provided under par. (c). At the hearing, the court shall take evidence it considers relevant to determining whether the person to whom the petition relates is permanently physically incapacitated so that he or she is not a danger to the public. The department and the party to whom the petition was sent under par. (b) 2. may offer relevant evidence regarding that issue.

301.48(7)(e)(e) The court may grant a petition filed under par. (b) 1. if it determines after a hearing under par. (d) that the person to whom the petition relates is permanently physically incapacitated so that he or she is not a danger to the public.

301.48(7m)(7m) Termination if person moves out of state. If a person who is subject to being tracked under this section moves out of state, the department shall terminate the person’s tracking. If the person returns to the state, the department shall reinstate the person’s tracking except as provided under sub. (6) or (7).

301.48 AnnotationLifetime global positioning system (GPS) tracking is not a punishment such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty. Neither the intent nor effect of lifetime GPS tracking is punitive. Consequently, the defendant in this case was not entitled to withdraw his plea because the circuit court was not required to inform the defendant that his guilty plea would subject him to lifetime GPS tracking. State v. Muldrow, 2018 WI 52, 381 Wis. 2d 492, 912 N.W.2d 74, 16-0740.

301.48 AnnotationA statute is an ex post facto law only if it imposes punishment. In Muldrow, 2018 WI 52, the court determined that neither the intent nor the effect of lifetime global positioning system (GPS) tracking is punitive. Thus, GPS tracking does not violate the ex post facto clause. Kaufman v. Walker, 2018 WI App 37, 382 Wis. 2d 774, 915 N.W.2d 193, 17-0085.

301.48 AnnotationThis section conditions global positioning system (GPS) tracking on a defendant’s prior convictions, rather than current dangerousness. Therefore, due process does not entitle the defendant to more procedural protections. The defendant in this case was not entitled to a hearing to prove that he was not dangerous because his current state of dangerousness was immaterial to being subject to GPS monitoring. Kaufman v. Walker, 2018 WI App 37, 382 Wis. 2d 774, 915 N.W.2d 193, 17-0085.

301.48 AnnotationGiven how slight is the incremental loss of privacy from having to wear an anklet monitor, and how valuable to society the information collected by the monitor is, this section does not violate the 4th amendment. The terms of supervised release, probation, and parole often authorize searches by probation officers without the officers’ having to obtain warrants. Such warrantless searches do not violate the 4th amendment as long as they are reasonable. The search conducted in this case via an anklet monitor is less intrusive than a conventional search. Such monitoring of sex offenders is permissible if it satisfies the reasonableness test applied in parolee and special-needs cases. Wisconsin’s ankle monitoring of the defendant was reasonable. Belleau v. Wall, 811 F.3d 929 (2016). See also Braam v. Carr, 37 F.4th 1269 (2022).

301.48 AnnotationThis section was not an ex post facto law simply because it took effect after the plaintiff had committed the crimes for which the plaintiff had been convicted. A statute is an ex post facto law only if it imposes punishment. This monitoring law is not punishment; it is prevention. Belleau v. Wall, 811 F.3d 929 (2016).