AB127: Bill Text

LRB-1971/1

CMH&MCP:kjf:rs

2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE

2015 Assembly BILL 127

March 27, 2015 - Introduced by Representatives Jacque, Steffen, Sinicki, Spiros, Subeck, Murphy, Wachs and A. Ott, cosponsored by Senators Hansen and Carpenter. Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

AB127,1,3 An Act to create 173.29, 938.3416, 941.293, 971.17 (1i) and 973.0336 of the statutes; relating to: possession of dogs by certain felony offenders and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Current law prohibits a person from possessing a firearm if he or she is a felony offender. A person is a felony offender if any of the following applies: 1) he or she has been found guilty of a felony; 2) he or she has been adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for an act that would have been a felony if it had been committed by an adult; or 3) he or she has been found not guilty of a felony by reason of mental disease, defect, or illness. If a felony offender violates the prohibition against possessing a firearm, he or she may be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both.

This bill prohibits, for a specified period, certain felony offenders from possessing, controlling, or residing with a vicious dog, as determined by a humane officer or a law enforcement officer using criteria specified in the bill. The prohibition applies to persons whose status as felony offenders is based on the commission of an act that is classified under the bill as a serious felony (serious felony offenders). A serious felony offender who violates the prohibition may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to nine months, or both. If a serious felony offender violates the prohibition and a person or an animal suffers great bodily harm or death due to the violation, the serious felony offender may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to three years and six months, or both. If a serious felony offender violates the prohibition and a person suffers great bodily harm or death due to the violation and the serious felony offender knowingly allowed the dog to run loose or failed to take steps to control the dog, the serious felony offender may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to six years, or both.

Unless the serious felony offender is on extended supervision or another supervised status (extended supervision), the prohibition applies to the serious felony offender for a period of ten years following: 1) any period of incarceration for the serious felony; 2) the conviction for the serious felony if the sentence does not include a period of incarceration; 3) the delinquency adjudication for the serious felony; or 4) the finding of not guilty of the serious felony by reason of insanity or mental disease, defect, or illness. If the serious felony offender is on extended supervision, the prohibition period applies until he or she is no longer on extended supervision.

Under this bill, a serious felony offender may request an exemption from the prohibition if the exemption is reasonably needed to earn a livelihood or as a condition of employment and will not endanger public safety. A serious felony offender seeking an exemption must file a motion in the circuit court for the county in which he or she will possess, control, or reside with the vicious dog. The serious felony offender must provide a copy of the motion to the district attorney for that county, who must in turn make a reasonable attempt to contact local law enforcement agencies to inform them of the request and to solicit any information that may be relevant to whether the request should be granted.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB127,1 Section 1. 173.29 of the statutes is created to read:

AB127,2,5 173.29 Vicious dogs. (1) Definition. In this section, "serious physical injury" means physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death; that causes serious disfigurement, protracted impairment of health, or impairment of a bodily organ; or that necessitates plastic surgery.

AB127,3,4 (2) Determination. If a humane officer or law enforcement officer, after conducting an investigation, determines that a dog satisfies one of the standards under sub. (3), the humane officer or law enforcement officer may issue a written order to the owner or custodian of the dog declaring the dog to be vicious for purposes of s. 941.293. In the written order, the humane officer or law enforcement officer shall notify the owner or custodian of the dog of the incidents that are the basis for the investigation. The written order shall include a description of s. 941.293 and of the right to a hearing under ch. 68.

AB127,3,6 (3) Standards. The humane officer or law enforcement officer may determine that a dog is vicious if one of the following applies:

AB127,3,8 (a) The dog, without justification, attacked a person and caused serious physical injury or death.

AB127,3,10 (b) The dog has done any of the following on at least 2 occasions, without justification:

AB127,3,11 1. Bitten a person without causing serious physical injury or death.

AB127,3,13 2. Behaved in a manner that a reasonable person would believe posed a significant, imminent threat of serious physical injury or death to a person.

AB127,3,15 (4) Justification. The humane officer or law enforcement officer may not determine that a dog's actions are without justification if any of the following applies:

AB127,3,18 (a) A person threatened, bitten, or attacked by the dog was committing a crime against the owner or custodian of the dog or was committing a willful trespass or other tort upon property owned or occupied by the owner or custodian of the dog.

AB127,3,21 (b) A person threatened, bitten, or attacked by the dog was abusing, assaulting, or physically threatening the dog or its offspring or had previously abused, assaulted, or physically threatened the dog or its offspring.

AB127,3,24 (c) The dog was responding to pain or injury or was protecting itself, its offspring, another dog living on the same property, its owner or custodian, or a person living in the household of its owner or custodian.

AB127,2 Section 2. 938.3416 of the statutes is created to read:

AB127,4,5 938.3416 Delinquency adjudication; restriction on possessing certain dogs. Whenever a court adjudicates a juvenile delinquent for an act that if committed by an adult in this state would be a serious felony, as defined in s. 941.293 (1) (b), the court shall inform the juvenile of the requirements and penalties under s. 941.293.

AB127,3 Section 3. 941.293 of the statutes is created to read:

AB127,4,7 941.293 Possession of certain dogs. (1) Definitions. In this section:

AB127,4,9 (a) "Confinement term" means a period during which a person is incarcerated in prison.

AB127,4,13 (b) "Serious felony" means a felony under s. 940.01, 940.02, 940.03, 940.05, 940.19 (2), (4), or (5), 940.225 (1) or (2), 940.31, 943.02, 943.10 (2), 943.23 (1g), 943.32 (2), 946.43 (1m), 948.02 (1) or (2), 948.025, 948.03 (2) (a) or (c) or (3) (a), 948.05, 948.08, or 948.30 (2) or a felony violation of ch. 961.

AB127,4,14 (c) "Vicious dog" means a dog that is determined to be vicious under s. 173.29.

AB127,4,16 (2) Applicability. A person is subject to the requirements and penalties of this section if any of the following applies:

AB127,4,18 (a) 1. He or she has been convicted of a serious felony in this state and was serving a confinement term for that conviction within the preceding 10 years.

AB127,4,21 2. He or she has been convicted of a crime elsewhere that would be a serious felony if committed in this state and was serving a confinement term for that conviction within the preceding 10 years.

AB127,4,23 (b) 1. He or she has been convicted of a serious felony in this state within the preceding 10 years.

AB127,4,25 2. Within the preceding 10 years, he or she has been convicted of a crime elsewhere that would be a serious felony if committed in this state.

AB127,5,3 (c) 1. He or she is on extended supervision as part of a sentence following a conviction for a serious felony or is on parole or probation following a conviction for a serious felony.

AB127,5,5 2. He or she is on a supervised status following a conviction for a crime elsewhere that would be a serious felony if committed in this state.

AB127,5,7 (d) He or she has been adjudicated delinquent within the preceding 10 years for an act that if committed by an adult in this state would be a serious felony.

AB127,5,10 (e) He or she has been found not guilty within the preceding 10 years of a serious felony, or of a crime elsewhere that would be a serious felony if committed in this state, by reason of insanity or mental disease, defect, or illness.

AB127,5,12 (3) Prohibition. A person specified in sub. (2) may not possess, control, or reside with a vicious dog.

AB127,5,14 (4) Penalties. (a) Except as provided in pars. (b) and (c), whoever violates sub. (3) is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

AB127,5,16 (b) Whoever violates sub. (3) is guilty of a Class I felony if an individual or an animal suffers great bodily harm or death as a result of the violation.

AB127,5,20 (c) Whoever violates sub. (3) is guilty of a Class H felony if an individual suffers great bodily harm or death as a result of the violation and the actor knowingly allowed the dog to run loose or failed to take steps to keep the dog in an enclosure or under control.

AB127,5,22 (5) Applicability. (a) This section does not apply to any person specified in sub. (2) who has received a pardon with respect to the serious felony.

AB127,5,23 (b) Subsection (3) does not apply to a person if any of the following applies:

AB127,5,25 1. Not more than 5 days have elapsed since the person received a written order under s. 173.29 declaring the dog vicious.

AB127,6,1 2. A hearing is pending under ch. 68.