CORRECTED COPY
LRB-2239/1
CMH&MED:ahe
2017 - 2018 LEGISLATURE
May 19, 2017 - Introduced by Representatives Steffen, Goyke, Tittl, Anderson,
Billings, E. Brooks, R. Brooks, Brostoff, Considine, Crowley, Duchow,
Edming, Fields, Gannon, Genrich, Hintz, Jarchow, Kleefisch, Kolste,
Krug, Mursau, Ohnstad, Pope, Quinn, Ripp, Rohrkaste, Sargent, Sinicki,
Spreitzer, Subeck, Tauchen, C. Taylor, Tusler, Vruwink, Wachs and
Zepnick, cosponsored by Senators Risser, Feyen, Harsdorf, Johnson, Olsen,
Darling, Ringhand and Wirch. Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice
and Public Safety.
AB331,1,5 1An Act to renumber and amend 973.015 (1m) (a) 1.; to amend 950.04 (1v) (g)
2and 973.015 (1m) (b); and to create 111.335 (1) (am), 165.83 (2) (q), 973.015
3(1m) (a) 1. a. and b., 973.015 (1m) (a) 3. c. and d. and 4., 973.015 (1m) (c), 973.015
4(4) and 973.181 of the statutes; relating to: expungement of records of certain
5crimes.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a court may order a person's criminal record expunged of
certain crimes that the person committed before the age of 25. Current law specifies
that the expungement order must be made only at sentencing and then the record
is expunged when the person completes his or her sentence. Under this bill, the same
crimes are eligible for expungement but, if the sentencing court did not order the
record expunged, the person may file a petition with the sentencing court after he or
she completes his or her sentence. Upon receipt of the petition, the court must review
the petition at a hearing or, if the victim of the crime waives a hearing, without a
hearing, and then may order the record expunged or may deny the petition. If the
court denies the petition, the person may not file another petition for two years. This
bill also requires the sentencing court to inform an eligible person of the process to
petition for an expungement order and allows the sentencing court to order that a
person's record not be eligible for expungement.
This bill provides that, if a person's record is expunged of a crime, the
Department of Justice must redact any record of that crime when DOJ responds to

a public records request. This bill also provides that, if a record is expunged of a
crime, that crime is not considered a conviction for employment purposes and
specifies that employment discrimination because of a conviction record includes
requesting a person to supply information regarding a crime if the record has been
expunged of the crime.
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:
AB331,1 1Section 1. 111.335 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
AB331,2,82 111.335 (1) (am) Employment discrimination because of conviction record
3includes, but is not limited to, requesting an applicant, employee, member, licensee,
4or any other individual, on an application form or otherwise, to supply information
5regarding a crime the record of which has been expunged under s. 973.015. A request
6to supply information regarding criminal convictions shall not be construed as a
7request to supply information regarding a crime the record of which has been
8expunged under s. 973.015.
AB331,2 9Section 2. 165.83 (2) (q) of the statutes is created to read:
AB331,2,1110 165.83 (2) (q) Redact a record expunged under s. 973.015 when returning a
11record maintained under this section in response to a public records request.
AB331,3 12Section 3. 950.04 (1v) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB331,2,1513 950.04 (1v) (g) To have reasonable attempts made to notify the victim of
14hearings or court proceedings, as provided under ss. 302.113 (9g) (g) 2., 302.114 (6),
15938.27 (4m) and (6), 938.273 (2), 971.095 (3) and , 972.14 (3) (b), and 973.015 (1m) (c).
AB331,4 16Section 4. 973.015 (1m) (a) 1. of the statutes is renumbered 973.015 (1m) (a)
171. (intro.) and amended to read:
AB331,3,8
1973.015 (1m) (a) 1. (intro.) Subject to subd. 2. and except as provided in subd.
23., when
if a person commits a crime when he or she is under the age of 25 at the time
3of the commission of an offense for which the person has been found guilty in a court
4for violation of a law for which the maximum period of imprisonment is 6 years or
5less
, the court may order at the time of sentencing that the record be expunged upon
6successful completion of the sentence if the court determines the person will benefit
7and society will not be harmed by this disposition.
. A record may be ordered
8expunged under this subdivision by one of the following methods:
AB331,3,11 9(d) This subsection does not apply to information maintained by the
10department of transportation regarding a conviction that is required to be included
11in a record kept under s. 343.23 (2) (a).
AB331,5 12Section 5. 973.015 (1m) (a) 1. a. and b. of the statutes are created to read:
AB331,3,1613 973.015 (1m) (a) 1. a. Except as provided in subd. 3., the court may, on its own
14motion, order at the time of sentencing that the record be expunged upon successful
15completion of the sentence if the court determines the person will benefit and society
16will not be harmed by this disposition.
AB331,4,417 b. When the person has successfully completed his or her sentence and if there
18are no criminal charges pending against the person, the person may file a petition
19in the county of conviction requesting that the record of the crime be expunged. Upon
20receipt of the petition, the court shall schedule a hearing to review the petition except
21that, if the district attorney informs the court under par. (c) that there is no objection
22to waiving the hearing requirement, the court may review the petition without a
23hearing. If a hearing is scheduled, then if possible, the sentencing judge shall be the
24judge to review the petition. The court may order that the record be expunged if subd.
253. or 4. does not apply and if the court determines the person will benefit and society

1will not be harmed by this disposition. If the court does not order the record be
2expunged under this subd. 1. b., the person may file a subsequent petition under this
3subd. 1. b. only if at least 2 years have passed since he or she filed the previous
4petition.
AB331,6 5Section 6. 973.015 (1m) (a) 3. c. and d. and 4. of the statutes are created to read:
AB331,4,76 973.015 (1m) (a) 3. c. A crime for which the maximum period of imprisonment
7is more than 6 years.
AB331,4,98 d. A violation of chs. 341 to 348, or of a traffic regulation or ordinance in
9conformity with chs. 341 to 348.
AB331,4,1110 4. The court may, on its own motion, order at the time of sentencing that the
11record is ineligible for expungement.
AB331,7 12Section 7. 973.015 (1m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB331,5,513 973.015 (1m) (b) A For purposes of par. (a), a person has successfully
14completed the sentence if the person has completed any period of incarceration,
15parole, or extended supervision to which he or she was sentenced; the person has paid
16all fines, costs, fees, surcharges, and restitution assessed; the person
has not been
17convicted of a subsequent offense; and, if on probation was imposed, the probation
18has not been revoked and the probationer has satisfied the conditions of probation.
19If the person was not sentenced to any period of incarceration or placed on probation,
20the person has successfully completed the sentence if he or she has provided
21sufficient proof to the court that he or she has fulfilled all conditions of his or her
22sentence
. Upon successful completion of the a sentence involving incarceration or
23probation,
the detaining or probationary authority shall issue and forward to the
24court of record
a certificate of discharge which shall be forwarded to the court of
25record and which shall have the effect of expunging the record
. If the court has

1ordered the record expunged under par. (a) 1. a. or 2. and the person has successfully
2completed the sentence, the person's record shall be expunged as ordered. If the court
3has ordered the record expunged under par. (a) 1. b., the person's record shall be
4expunged as ordered
. If the person has been imprisoned incarcerated, the detaining
5authority shall also forward a copy of the certificate of discharge to the department.
AB331,8 6Section 8. 973.015 (1m) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
AB331,5,227 973.015 (1m) (c) If a person files a petition under par. (a) 1. b., the clerk of the
8circuit court in which the petition is filed shall send to the district attorney a copy
9of the petition and a notice of the hearing. The district attorney shall make a
10reasonable attempt to notify the victim, as defined under s. 950.02 (4), of the petition.
11In the notice, the district attorney shall inform the victim that he or she may waive
12the hearing requirement and that, if waived, the court may review the petition
13without a hearing. The district attorney shall inform the victim of the manner in
14which he or she may provide written statements concerning the petition and, if the
15victim does not waive the hearing requirement, that he or she may appear at the
16hearing. If the victim waives the hearing requirement, the district attorney may
17inform the court that there is no objection to waiving the hearing requirement.
18Notwithstanding the confidentiality of victim address information obtained under
19s. 302.113 (9g) (g) 3., a district attorney who is required to make a reasonable attempt
20to notify a victim under this paragraph may obtain from the clerk of the circuit court
21the victim address information that the victim provided to the clerk under s. 302.113
22(9g) (g) 3.
AB331,9 23Section 9. 973.015 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
AB331,5,2524 973.015 (4) (a) The department of justice shall treat any record expunged under
25this section as directed in s. 165.83 (2) (q).
AB331,6,2
1(b) A record of a crime expunged under this section is not considered a
2conviction for employment purposes.
AB331,10 3Section 10. 973.181 of the statutes is created to read:
AB331,6,7 4973.181 Notice of expungement process. If the defendant is eligible to
5petition for expungement under s. 973.015 (1m) (a) 1. b. and the court has not ordered
6the record expunged under s. 973.015 (1m) (a) 1. a., the judge shall inform the
7defendant in writing at the time of sentencing of the process to file for expungement.
AB331,11 8Section 11. Initial applicability.
AB331,6,119 (1) This act first applies to any conviction for which sentencing has occurred
10but for which the record has not been ordered expunged on the effective date of this
11subsection.
AB331,6,1212 (End)
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