SENATE SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 2,
TO SENATE BILL 927
February 23, 2024 - Offered by Senator Wanggaard.
SB927-SSA2,1,4 1An Act to amend 19.36 (11) and 19.55 (1); and to create 8.10 (7), 19.36 (14),
219.55 (2) (cm), 59.43 (1r) and 757.07 of the statutes; relating to: privacy
3protections for judicial officers, granting rule-making authority, and providing
4a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill establishes privacy protections for judicial officers and a procedure for
a judicial officer to complete a written request for protection of the personal
information of the judicial officer and the judicial officer's immediate family.
Under the bill, a government agency may not publicly post or display publicly
available content that includes a judicial officer's personal information, provided
that the government agency has received a written request from the officer that the
agency refrain from disclosing the personal information. Upon receipt of the written
request, the agency must remove the personal information within 10 business days
and may not publicly post or display the information. The personal information is
also exempt from public records requests unless the agency has received consent to
make the information available to the public.
The bill also provides that, upon receipt of a written request for privacy
protections from a judicial officer, all persons, businesses, and associations must
refrain from publicly posting or displaying on the Internet publicly available content

that includes the personal information of the judicial officer or the judicial officer's
immediate family. The prohibition does not apply to personal information that the
judicial officer or an immediate family member of the judicial officer voluntarily
publishes on the Internet after the bill goes into effect or personal information
lawfully received from a state or federal government source, including from an
employee or agent of the state or federal government.
After a person, business, or association has received a written request from a
judicial officer, the person, business, or association must remove, within 10 business
days, the publicly posted or displayed personal information identified in the request;
ensure that the information is not publicly posted or displayed on any website or
subsidiary website controlled by that person, business, or association; and identify
any other publicly posted or displayed instances of the identified information that
should be removed. Under the bill, once a written request is received, no person,
business, or association may transfer the judicial officer's personal information to
any other person, business, or association through any medium, except for personal
information that the judicial officer or an immediate family member of the judicial
officer voluntarily publishes on the Internet after the bill goes into effect, or if a
transfer is made at the request of the judicial officer or is necessary to effectuate a
request to the person, business, or association from the judicial officer.
The bill also expressly prohibits a data broker, as defined in the bill, from
knowingly selling, licensing, trading, purchasing, or otherwise making available for
consideration the personal information of a judicial officer or a judicial officer's
immediate family, provided that the judicial officer has made a written request to the
data broker. Under the bill, the data broker must cease knowingly selling, licensing,
trading, purchasing, or otherwise making available personal information for
consideration pursuant to the written request within 10 business days of the written
request.
The bill requires the register of deeds to shield from disclosure and keep
confidential certain documents covered by a judicial officer's written request for
protection of personal information, if the documents to be protected are specifically
identified by the judicial officer. The bill also requires that any provider of a
public-facing land records website must establish a process for judicial officers and
immediate family members of judicial officers to opt out from the display and search
functions of their names on the provider's public-facing land records websites.
Under the bill, certain judicial officers may designate the director of state
courts as the judicial officer's agent for purposes of service of process. If the director
of state courts receives service of process, notice, or demand required or permitted
by law to be served on a judicial officer who has designated the director of state courts
as his or her agent, the director of state courts must forward the process, notice, or
demand to the judicial officer's home address.
The bill also provides that a candidate for a judicial office may, instead of having
his or her name and residential address listed on nomination papers, file a
certification of residence with the Elections Commission before circulating
nomination papers. A judicial officer circulating nomination papers on behalf of a
candidate for a nonpartisan office, or signing nomination papers supporting a

candidate for a nonpartisan office, may similarly file a certification of residence with
the Elections Commission before circulating or signing nomination papers. The bill
requires the commission, by rule, to verify the address provided in the certification
of residence. Under current law, generally, a candidate for a state or local elective
office must file nomination papers with the commission or, for a local office, with the
appropriate municipal clerk. The top of each nomination paper must list the
candidate's full name, including any nickname or former surname, and his or her
residential street address. Under current law, a person circulating nomination
papers on behalf of a candidate for a judicial office must also provide a certification
at the bottom of each nomination paper stating his or her residential street address.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB927-SSA2,1 1Section 1 . 8.10 (7) of the statutes is created to read:
SB927-SSA2,3,142 8.10 (7) (a) Notwithstanding sub. (2) (b) and (c) and s. 8.21 (4) (b), a candidate
3for filling the office of a judicial officer, as defined in s. 757.07 (1) (e), who files a
4certification of residence with the commission before circulating nomination papers
5is not required to indicate his or her residential address on the nomination papers,
6including nomination papers circulated on behalf of the judicial officer, or on the
7declaration of candidacy. Notwithstanding sub. (3) (intro.), a judicial officer, as
8defined in s. 757.07 (1) (e), who intends to circulate nomination papers on behalf of
9a candidate for filling a nonpartisan office, or who intends to sign nomination papers
10to support such a candidate, is not required to indicate his or her residential address
11on the certification of a qualified circulator appended to the nomination papers or on
12the nomination papers as a signatory. The commission shall promulgate rules for the
13administration of this subsection and prescribe a certification of residence for a
14candidate or circulating judicial officer for use under this subsection.
SB927-SSA2,4,315 (b) Certifications of residence submitted to the commission under par. (a) shall
16be kept confidential unless the judicial officer consents to disclosure under s. 757.07
17(4) (e), except that the commission shall provide such certifications to the appropriate

1filing officer for the office the candidate or judicial officer seeks. Filing officers shall
2also keep confidential the certifications received by the commission unless the
3judicial officer consents to disclosure.
SB927-SSA2,2 4Section 2. 19.36 (11) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB927-SSA2,4,165 19.36 (11) Records of an individual holding a local public office or a state
6public office.
Unless access is specifically authorized or required by statute, an
7authority shall not provide access under s. 19.35 (1) to records, except to an
8individual to the extent required under s. 103.13, containing information
9maintained, prepared, or provided by an employer concerning the home address,
10home electronic mail address, home telephone number, or social security number of
11an individual who holds a local public office or a state public office, unless the
12individual authorizes the authority to provide access to such information. This
13Except as provided in sub. (14), this subsection does not apply to the home address
14of an individual who holds an elective public office or to the home address of an
15individual who, as a condition of employment, is required to reside in a specified
16location.
SB927-SSA2,3 17Section 3. 19.36 (14) of the statutes is created to read:
SB927-SSA2,4,2218 19.36 (14) Privacy protections for judicial officers. If a judicial officer, as
19defined in s. 757.07 (1) (e), submits a written request under s. 757.07 (4), an authority
20shall not provide access under s. 19.35 (1) to a certification of residence under s. 8.10
21(7) or to the personal information, as defined in s. 757.07 (1) (g), of a judicial officer,
22except as provided under s. 8.10 (7) (b).
SB927-SSA2,4 23Section 4. 19.55 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB927-SSA2,5,924 19.55 (1) Except as provided in s. 19.36 (14) and subs. (2) to (4), all records
25under ch. 11, this subchapter, or subch. III of ch. 13 in the possession of the

1commission are open to public inspection at all reasonable times. The commission
2shall require an individual wishing to examine a statement of economic interests or
3the list of persons who inspect any statements which are in the commission's
4possession to provide his or her full name and address, and if the individual is
5representing another person, the full name and address of the person which he or she
6represents. Such identification may be provided in writing or in person. The
7commission shall record and retain for at least 3 years information obtained by it
8pursuant to this subsection. No individual may use a fictitious name or address or
9fail to identify a principal in making any request for inspection.
SB927-SSA2,5 10Section 5 . 19.55 (2) (cm) of the statutes is created to read: