There is always a large number of bills working their way through our Wisconsin government. When I go through the list, I see a lot of wasted time and tax dollars. So I did a little search through these using the keyword ‘sex’, I didn’t put all the results below, since some didn’t apply to WAR, but the relevant ones you’ll find below.
Something that many Wisconsinites may not know is that for every Assembly bill there is a sister Senate Bill and vise versa, all depending on which house presents the legislation first, usually. Some of them didn’t have sister bills and have been presented recently, so likely there hasn’t been time to make a sister bill for the legislation.
There are quite a few of them so this post will be rather long. For each bill I have posted the Legislative Reference Bureau Analysis so you can get an idea of what each bill is about. I encourage any of you that have questions about any of these bills that you ask your local Assemblyman or Senator, have them explain how this is good for Wisconsin and their constituents.
AB55 and SB60 – Relating to: applicability of 2017 Wisconsin Act 184; time frame for reports for sexually violent persons petitioning for supervised release; and placement of sexually violent persons on supervised release.
2017 Wisconsin Act 184 modified the procedure for determining the placement of a sexually violent person on supervised release. One change eliminated the ability of the court to choose a county other than the person’s county of residence to prepare a report identifying appropriate residential options for the person. Prior law had allowed the court, with good cause, to choose another county. The effect of this change was that the person could not be placed in a county that was not his or her county of residence. The changes made in 2017 Wisconsin Act 184 applied to any petition for supervised release pending as of March 30, 2018. This bill clarifies that a petition for supervised release was pending if the person had not been physically placed in a residence on supervised release.
This bill also requires the Department of Health Services to identify any person on supervised release whose residence is not in his or her county of residence and who had been physically placed in a residence on supervised release on or after March 30, 2018. If DHS identifies any such person, DHS must notify the court, and the court must revoke the person’s supervised release and order the person’s county of residence to prepare a new report.
Under 2017 Wisconsin Act 184, a county was required to prepare its report for the court within 180 days of the court order if the order was made on or after March 30, 2018, and before April 1, 2019, and within 120 days if the order was made on or after April 1, 2019. If the county failed to prepare its report in that time frame, the county would violate the person’s rights as a patient and would be subject to enforcement and damages for each violation. This bill eliminates the shortening of the time frame beginning on April 1, 2019, so that a county is required to prepare its report for the court within 180 days of the court order. This bill also allows a county,
if it fails to prepare its report within 180 days, to request that the court make a finding that the county is making a good faith effort to prepare the report, and, if the court makes such a finding, the county is not subject to enforcement and damages.
Under current law, when a sexually violent person is placed on supervised release, he or she may not be placed within 1,500 feet of a school, child care facility, place of worship, park, youth center, or other specified places. Under the bill, the county must consider the proximity of the placement to the places specified under current law, but the bill removes the exact distance.
AB 171 & SB104 – Relating to: sexual contact by a law enforcement officer with a person in his or her custody and providing a penalty.
Under this bill, it is a Class C Felony for a law enforcement officer to have sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a person in his or her custody. For the purposes of the crime created in this bill, consent is not an issue. The bill adds the prohibited conduct to the list of activities in current law that constitute second degree sexual assault. Current law does not contain a criminal prohibition on sexual contact between a law enforcement officer and a person in his or her custody.
Under current law, a person may be required to register as a sex offender for certain crimes that are sexually motivated if the judge determines that it would be in the interest of public protection to have the person register. Under this bill, the new offense of sexual contact between a law enforcement officer and a person in his or her custody would be subject to this provision.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.
AB152 & SB139 – Relating to: sexual contact with an animal and providing a penalty.
Under this bill, it is a Class H felony to have sexual contact with an animal, to promote or otherwise participate in sexual contact with animals, to create, possess, or distribute obscene material depicting a person engaged in sexual contact with an animal, or to advertise, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain an animal for the purpose of having sexual contact with the animal. In addition, it is a Class F felony to force, coerce, entice, or encourage a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual contact with an animal or a Class G felony if the child is over the age of 13 but under the age of 18. It is also a Class F felony to have sexual contact with an animal in the
presence of a child under the age of 13 or a Class G felony if the child is over the age of 13 but under the age of 18. In addition, all felony classifications are increased forsecond or subsequent violations.
Under current law, it is a Class A misdemeanor for a person to commit an act of sexual gratification involving his or her sex organ and the sex organ, mouth, or anus of an animal, or involving his or her sex organ, mouth, anus, or other body part
and the sex organ of an animal.
Under current law, a person may be required to register as a sex offender for certain crimes that are sexually motivated if the judge determines that it would be in the interest of public protection to have the person register. Under this bill, the new offense of bestiality would be subject to this provision.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.
AB214 & SB200 – Relating to: storage and processing of sexual assault kits and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority.
Under current law, there is no statutory procedure for the collection and processing of sexual assault kits. This bill creates procedures for transmission, processing, and storage of sexual assault kits. Under the bill, a health care professional who collects a sexual assault kit must do one of the following: 1) if the victim wants to report the sexual assault to law enforcement, the health care professional must notify a law enforcement agency within 24 hours of collecting the kit; or 2) if the victim does not want to report the sexual assault to law enforcement, the health care professional must send the kit to the state crime laboratories within 72 hours for storage. Under the bill, if a law enforcement agency has received notification from a health care professional that a kit has been collected, the law enforcement agency must take possession of the kit within 72 hours, and must send the kit to the state crime laboratories for processing within 14 days. If the victim changes his or her mind about wanting to have his or her kit analyzed after it is given to a law enforcement agency but before the agency sends the kit to the state crime laboratories for processing, the agency must send the kit to the state crime laboratories for storage rather than for processing.
Under the bill, once the state crime laboratories takes possession of a sexual assault kit, it must do one of the following: 1) if it has received the kit of a person who has not consented to analysis, securely store the kit for a period of ten years; or 2) if it has received the kit of a person who has consented to analysis, process the kit and then send it to a law enforcement agency to store the kit for a period of 50 years, or until the date of the expiration of the statute of limitations, or until the end of a term of imprisonment or probation of a person convicted in the sexual assault case, whichever is longer.
Under current law, local law enforcement agencies report certain crime statistics to the Department of Justice. This bill requires law enforcement agencies to provide additional data to DOJ regarding sexual assault kits collected and processed in Wisconsin in addition to the data currently being reported. This bill also requires DOJ to publish data on law enforcement agency compliance with DOJ reporting requirements.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
AB289 & SB261 – Relating to: underage sexual activity.
2017 Wisconsin Act 174 created the offense of underage sexual activity. Before Act 174, a person who was convicted of sexual intercourse or sexual contact with a child who was at least 13 but under 16 was guilty of a felony. Under Act 174, the offense of underage sexual activity changed the classification of the crime so that a person who has sexual intercourse with a child who is between 15 and 18, or sexual contact with a child who is 15, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the person is under 19 years old.
This bill allows persons who were convicted of a sex offense against a child that occurred before the effective date of 2017 Wisconsin Act 174 (March 30, 2018) to petition a court to vacate that conviction and enter a conviction for the lesser offense of underage sexual activity if the person could have been convicted of the lesser offense if the violation had occurred after March 30, 2018.
AB352 & SB326 – Relating to: creating a sexual assault victim bill of rights.
This bill creates a sexual assault victim bill of rights. In addition to the rights extended to crime victims under Wisconsin’s basic bill of rights for victims and witnesses, this bill adds the following rights for victims of sexual assault, regardless of whether or not they choose to cooperate with a law enforcement agency: the right to be provided with accurate written information about his or her rights as a sexual assault victim; the right to choose whether or not to undergo a sexual assault forensic examination; the right to bathe immediately following a sexual assault forensic examination; the right to choose whether or not to cooperate with a law enforcement agency; the right to have any examination evidence stored for 50 years or until the end of the prison term of the person convicted of the assault against him or her; and the right to be notified in writing 60 days prior to the destruction of any evidence obtained in a sexual assault forensic examination.
The bill also requires the Department of Justice to test the sexual assault kit of a person who is cooperating with law enforcement within 90 days of collection and requires DOJ to store all sexual assault kits for 50 years or until the end of the term of imprisonment or probation of a person convicted in the sexual assault case.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
Under current law, the time a person has to bring an action (the statute of limitations) for an injury resulting from being sexually assaulted or subject to incest as a child, or from being subject to sexual contact by a member of the clergy as a child, is any time before the injured party reaches the age of 35.
This bill removes the time limit for bringing those actions. In addition, the bill applies this unlimited time period to a broader range of actions. Under the bill, there is no limit on the time a person has to bring an action for injury resulting from being subject, as a child, to any sexual contact by an adult or by an adult member of the clergy. The bill also revives any cause of action that was barred by the present statute of limitations and allows an injured party to bring that action for his or her injury within three years after the effective date of the bill.
Under current law, when a sexually violent person is placed on supervised
release, he or she may not be placed within 1,500 feet of a school, child care facility, place of worship, park, or youth center. This bill adds a location in which a home school program is provided to the list of sites from which a sexually violent person’s placement must be at least 1,500 feet.
Under current law, a prosecution for second-degree sexual assault must be
commenced within ten years of the commission of the assault. This bill extends the period so that a prosecution for second-degree sexual assault must be commenced within 20 years of the commission of the assault.