16 Employment Relations Commission
17 Employment Relations Department
18 Ethics Board
19 Financial Institutions
20 Governor
21 Health and Educational Facilities Authority
22 Health and Family Services
23 Higher educational aids board
24 Historical Society
25 Housing and Economic Development Authority
26 Insurance
27 Investment Board
28 Joint Committee on Finance
29 Judicial Commission
30 Justice
31 Legislature
32 Lieutenant Governor
33 Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board
34 Medical College of Wisconsin
35 Military Affairs
36 Natural Resources
37 Personnel Commission
38 Public Defender Board
39 Public Instruction
40 Public Service Commission
41 Regulation and Licensing
42 Revenue
43 Secretary of State
44 State Fair Park Board
45 Supreme Court
46 Technical College System
47 Tourism
48 Transportation
49 Treasurer
50 University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority
51 University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Board
52 University of Wisconsin System
53 Veterans Affairs
54 World Dairy Center Authority
55 Workforce Development
56 Other
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Commerce and economic development
Buildings and safety
Under current law, the department of workforce development (DWD)
administers the fair housing law. This bill transfers from DWD to the department
of commerce the responsibility for administering that portion of the fair housing law
that requires certain multifamily housing to be designed and constructed so as to be
accessible to persons with disabilities. Specifically, under the bill, the responsibility
for setting accessibility standards, for reviewing plans and specifications for
proposed covered multifamily housing and for granting variances from those
standards is transferred to the department of commerce. The responsibility for
receiving, investigating and hearing complaints charging that there has been a
violation of those accessibility standards, however, remains with DWD.
Economic development
This bill authorizes the department of commerce to make a grant to a
consortium consisting of a business and a higher educational institution in Eau
Claire County for establishing a distance education center for technology and
engineering instruction.
The bill also authorizes the department of commerce to award grants for
capitalization of revolving loan funds for local and regional economic development
and to make loans for specific projects consisting of the renovation or construction
of buildings, or the purchase of land, buildings, machinery or equipment, for the
purpose of fostering economic development in an area.
In general, a recipient of a grant or loan must submit a plan detailing the
proposed use of the grant or loan, enter into a written agreement that specifies the
conditions for the use of the funds and agree to submit a report on the use of the funds
after they have been spent. A loan recipient must contribute matching funds for at
least 25% of the project cost.
Current law authorizes the department of commerce to award grants to
businesses in rural municipalities for the start-up, modernization or expansion of
a dairy farm or other agricultural business. Grants are limited to no more than
$200,000 in the aggregate in a fiscal year. This bill changes the maximum aggregate
amount for those grants to $500,000 in a fiscal year.
Current law directs the business development assistance center in the
department of commerce to act as an ombudsman for brownfields redevelopment
projects and to assist the department of commerce in administering the brownfields
grant program. (Brownfields are abandoned or idle industrial or commercial
facilities or sites that are not expanded or redeveloped because of actual or perceived
environmental contamination.) Current law contains an appropriation under which
moneys from the petroleum inspection fund are to be used for activities of and staff
for the business development assistance center in the department of commerce. This
bill changes the purpose of that appropriation to administration of brownfields
redevelopment activities.
Correctional system
Current law requires the department of corrections (DOC) to establish fees for
juvenile correctional services provided by DOC. Current law also requires the
department of health and family services (DHFS) to include DOC's fees in DHFS'
uniform system of fees and to collect the fees owed to DOC. This bill requires DOC
to establish its own uniform system of fees and to collect the fees owed to DOC for
the juvenile correctional services provided by DOC.
Courts and procedure
Circuit courts
Under current law, the county of venue (the county in which a proceeding before
the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the children's code and the juvenile
justice code (juvenile court) takes place) must pay reasonable compensation to a
guardian ad litem (GAL) appointed for a child in such a proceeding. This bill permits
the juvenile court to order the child's parents to pay all or any part of that
compensation and to pay the fee for any expert witness used by the GAL. Under the
bill, if one or both of the child's parents are indigent, or if the juvenile court
determines that it would be unfair to require a parent to pay, the juvenile court may
order the county of venue to pay the GAL's compensation and the fees of any expert
witness, in whole or in part. If the juvenile court orders the county of venue to pay
because a parent is indigent, the juvenile court may order the parents to reimburse
the county, in whole or in part, for the payment.
Under current law, the chief justice of the supreme court may appoint certain
persons to serve as temporary reserve judges, including persons who have been
supreme court justices, court of appeals judges or circuit judges. Temporary reserve
judges perform judicial duties on a day-to-day basis as the chief justice directs.
Currently, a temporary reserve judge receives a per diem payment for his or her
services of $243.49, which is based on a per diem payment of $225 in 1993 increased
by the same percentage increase as the total percentage increase in circuit judges'
salaries authorized during each 12-month period ending on August 1.
Under this bill, the per diem payment for a temporary reserve judge is $255.66
until August 1, 1998, when the per diem payment is increased by the percentage
increase authorized for circuit judges' salaries.
Justice
This bill provides immunity from civil liability for any governmental unit or
public official, employe or agent for any act or omission committed in reliance upon
a written opinion of the attorney general. The opinion may relate to any subject. The
bill does not specify whether the opinion must be published.
Other courts and procedure
This bill makes changes in current law relating to litigation brought by
prisoners (persons incarcerated, imprisoned, confined or detained in a jail or prison)
and to petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Among the changes are:
Limitations on commencing lawsuits
Currently, a person with a disability who is entitled to bring a lawsuit may, in
certain cases, have the period for commencing the lawsuit extended until a certain
length of time after the person's disability ceases if the person had the disability at
the time the event giving rise to the lawsuit occurred. Current law allows former
prisoners to bring a lawsuit within 5 years after they are no longer in prison. This
bill removes prisoner status as a disability for purposes of extending the period
permitted for bringing a lawsuit. The bill requires a prisoner to bring a lawsuit
related to prison or jail conditions for which there are administrative remedies
available, including a petition for a writ of certiorari, within 30 days after the event
giving rise to the lawsuit occurs or the lawsuit is barred. (A petition for a writ of
certiorari involves asking a court to review an action taken by an administrative
agency or a lower court based on the information used by the agency or lower court
and without presenting any additional information to the reviewing court.)
Limits on remedies
This bill provides that a petition for a writ of certiorari is a prisoner's only
method of challenging certain official actions. Currently, a prisoner may use any
available legal remedy to challenge official actions, including a summons and
complaint, writ of mandamus or writ of certiorari. Under the bill, the decisions that
may only be challenged using a petition for a writ of certiorari are those related to
the following: 1) prison discipline; 2) revocation of probation; 3) denial or revocation
of parole; and 4) the disposition of a complaint regarding prison or jail conditions.
In addition, under the bill, a prisoner may not recover damages for mental or
emotional injury unless the prisoner shows that he or she suffered a physical injury
as a result of the same incident that caused the mental or emotional injury.
Exhaustion of administrative remedies
Currently, a prisoner is prohibited from commencing a civil lawsuit against
department of corrections (DOC) personnel until the prisoner has exhausted all
administrative remedies established by DOC by rule. This bill expands that
prohibition to apply to all civil lawsuits by prisoners related to prison or jail
conditions against any person for which there are administrative remedies available.
Limit on filing of lawsuits by certain persons
Except when a prisoner is in danger of serious injury, this bill requires a court
that receives a request from a prisoner for permission to commence a civil lawsuit
without the payment of court costs to deny that request if the prisoner has had a court
proceeding in which he or she was allowed to commence the lawsuit without paying
the court costs dismissed on 2 or more occasions because the proceeding was
frivolous, was used for an improper purpose (such as harassment), sought monetary
damages from a person immune from such damages, or failed to state a claim upon
which relief could be granted. The bill requires a court to hold a prisoner in contempt
if the court dismisses the lawsuit for one of those reasons and if the prisoner has had
a previous lawsuit dismissed for one of those reasons. The contempt sanctions
include prohibiting the prisoner from filing any lawsuit for 2 years or until any
monetary penalty imposed for the contempt is paid, whichever is earlier. The bill also
requires a court to dismiss any pending lawsuit brought by a prisoner in which court
costs are unpaid if the prisoner is released from prison and fails to make
arrangements for the payment of those costs within 30 days after being released.
Waiver of answer
Currently, if a person, including a prisoner, commences a lawsuit, the
defendant in the action has 20 days after service of the complaint to answer the
complaint. In certain cases the state has 45 days to answer a complaint. Under this
bill, a defendant in a lawsuit commenced by a prisoner is not required to respond to
the complaint. Under the bill, the failure to respond to a lawsuit related to prison
or jail conditions is an affirmative defense against all of the allegations made in the
prisoner's complaint. The bill requires the court, if it determines that the plaintiff
may prevail on the merits, to order the defendant to respond to the complaint.
Costs and fees in prisoner actions
This bill provides that no costs may be awarded against an employe of the state
or a public agency who is acting in his or her official capacity or against the state or
a public agency in a lawsuit brought by a prisoner related to conditions of
imprisonment. If the state or public agency prevails in a lawsuit brought by a
prisoner related to conditions of imprisonment, the bill provides that the prisoner
must pay the costs. If a prisoner requests permission to bring a lawsuit without the
payment of costs, the bill requires the prisoner to provide a copy of the statement that
summarizes how much money the prisoner's custodian is holding on behalf of the
prisoner and to submit an affidavit showing that he or she is unable to pay the costs
and that he or she has paid all previously assessed costs.
If the prisoner's account is insufficient to pay the full costs, the bill requires the
court to take the full amount in the account as a partial payment of the costs. The
bill requires the agency having custody of the prisoner's account to freeze that
account and use any deposits made into that account to pay the remainder of the
costs. The bill allows the court to waive these requirements if the prisoner is in
danger of serious physical harm.
If a prisoner is entitled to attorney fees, the bill limits those fees to those directly
related to proving the violation that results in the granting of attorney fees. The bill
provides that 25% of any monetary relief ordered must be applied to satisfy any
attorney fees awarded to the prisoner and limits the defendant's liability for attorney
fees to 125% of the monetary award. Under current case law, costs may not be
assessed against the state unless otherwise expressly provided. Costs may be
assessed against a prisoner.
Payment of judgments
Currently, if a court enters a judgment for a monetary award to a prisoner, the
payment is made directly to the prisoner.
Under this bill, if a court enters a judgment for a monetary award to a prisoner,
the court must, before permitting payment of any proceeds to the prisoner, order that
the award be paid for the following purposes and in the following order:
