LRB-2968/1
JEO:kaf:km
1997 - 1998 LEGISLATURE
June 10, 1997 - Introduced by Representatives Goetsch, Dobyns, Owens, Ott,
Ainsworth, Musser, Olsen, Sykora, Albers, Kelso, Staskunas, Plouff,
Cullen and Klusman, cosponsored by Senators Adelman, Roessler and
Huelsman. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AB415,1,2
1An Act to create 973.01 of the statutes;
relating to: the factors to be considered
2by a court when sentencing a person convicted of a crime.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current Wisconsin appellate court decisions, a court imposing a sentence
on a person convicted of a crime must consider various factors. The 3 primary factors
are: 1) the gravity of the offense; 2) the character of the convicted person; and 3) the
need to protect the public. As part of these primary factors, the sentencing court may
also consider such things as the vicious or aggravated nature of the crime, the
person's past record of criminal offenses, the person's personality, character and
social traits, the person's remorse, repentance and cooperativeness and the person's
need for rehabilitative control. See, for example, State v. Borrell, 167 Wis. 2d 749,
773-74 (1992).
This bill codifies the factors that appellate case law requires a court to consider
when imposing a sentence on a person convicted of a crime. The bill also specifies
that when considering the character of the convicted person, the court must consider
any efforts at rehabilitation made by the person after his or her arrest for the offense
and before being sentenced.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB415, s. 1
3Section
1. 973.01 of the statutes is created to read:
AB415,2,3
1973.01 Factors to be considered at sentencing. (1) When deciding
2whether to impose a sentence or place a person on probation for conviction of a
3criminal offense, a court shall consider the following factors:
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(a) The gravity of the offense.
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(b) The character of the person convicted of the offense, including any effort at
6rehabilitation made by the person after his or her arrest for the offense and before
7being sentenced or placed on probation.
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(c) The need to protect the public.
AB415,2,10
9(2) As part of its consideration of the factors specified in sub. (1), the court may
10consider any of the following:
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(a) The vicious or aggravated nature of the criminal offense.
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(b) The degree of the person's culpability.
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(c) The person's past record of criminal offenses.
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(d) The person's personality, character and social traits, including the person's
15history of undesirable behavior patterns, if any.
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(e) The person's age, educational background and employment record.
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(f) The person's demeanor at trial, if applicable.
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(g) The person's remorse, repentance and cooperativeness.
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(h) The person's need for rehabilitative control.
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(i) The length of pretrial detention of the person, if applicable.
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(j) The rights of the public.
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(k) The results of any presentence investigation prepared under s. 972.15.
