AB678,63,44 1. By government lot.
AB678,63,55 2. By recorded private claim.
AB678,63,66 3. By quarter section, section, township, and range.
AB678,63,97 (b) If the land is located in a recorded and filed subdivision or in an area that
8is subject to a certified survey map, by reference as described in s. 236.28 or 236.34
9(3).
AB678,63,10 10(6) "Municipality" means a city, village, or town.
AB678,63,12 11(7) "Opened" means the completion of work on a highway that places the
12highway in a condition ready for public use.
AB678,63,14 13(9) "Town line highway" means a highway that runs on or across the boundary
14line between a town and another town, a village, or a city.
AB678,63,15 15(10) "Unrecorded highway" means a highway that is not a recorded highway.
AB678,63,18 16(11) "Worked" means action of the town in regularly maintaining a highway
17for public use, including hauling gravel, grading, clearing or plowing, and any other
18maintenance by or on behalf of the town on the road.
AB678, s. 155 19Section 155. 82.03 (1) (title) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,63,2020 82.03 (1) (title) Oversight of highways, superintendent of highways.
AB678, s. 156 21Section 156. 82.03 (1) (c), (5) (title) and (c), (6) and (9) to (19) of the statutes
22are created to read:
AB678,64,223 82.03 (1) (c) The town board shall fix the compensation and may require and
24set the amount of a bond of the superintendent. The town board may reimburse the

1superintendent for expenses incurred in performing his or her duties as
2superintendent.
AB678,64,4 3(5) (title) Maintenance. (c) To erect on the right-of-way fences other than
4snow fences.
AB678,64,6 5(6) Liability. The town shall be responsible for any damage resulting from
6activities undertaken under the authority granted by sub. (5).
AB678,64,9 7(9) Rustic roads. As specified in s. 83.42, the town board shall maintain the
8rustic roads under its jurisdiction and may apply to have a highway designated as
9a rustic road or withdrawn from the rustic road system.
AB678,64,12 10(10) Additions to and deletions from county trunk highway system. The town
11board shall approve or deny additions to and deletions from the county trunk
12highway system as provided in s. 83.025 (1).
AB678,64,15 13(11) Emergency closure of county trunk highway. The town chairperson may
14close county trunk highways when they have been rendered dangerous for travel and
15immediately notify the county highway commissioner under s. 83.09.
AB678,64,18 16(12) Controlled-access highways. The town board shall work with the county
17and other governmental bodies in establishing and maintaining controlled-access
18highways under s. 83.027.
AB678,64,21 19(13) County-controlled highways in a town. The town board may contract
20under s. 83.035 with the county to enable the county to construct and maintain
21streets and highways in the town.
AB678,64,23 22(14) Purchase of equipment. The town board may purchase road building and
23maintenance supplies from the county under s. 83.018.
AB678,65,3 24(15) Agreements with other governmental bodies. The town board, under s.
2583.027 (9), may enter into agreements with other governmental bodies respecting the

1financing, planning, establishment, improvement, maintenance, use, regulation, or
2vacation of controlled-access highways or other public ways in their respective
3jurisdictions.
AB678,65,5 4(16) County aid highways. The town board may improve county aid highways
5under s. 83.14.
AB678,65,7 6(17) Highway lighting. The town board may provide lighting for highways
7located in the town under s. 60.50 (4).
AB678,65,9 8(18) Solid waste transportation. The town board may designate highways on
9which solid waste may be transported under s. 60.54.
AB678,65,12 10(19) Tunnels under highways. The town board shall ensure that all tunnels
11constructed pursuant to s. 82.37 are constructed in accordance with the
12requirements of s. 82.37 and are kept in good repair by the landowner.
Note: Current s. 81.02 requires the superintendent to file a bond before assuming
office. The special committee discussed this requirement and concluded that town boards
rarely require such bonds. As a result, s. 82.03 (1) gives the board discretion over whether
to require a bond. Current s. 81.02 specifies what fund the superintendent may be paid
from. The special committee discussed this requirement and decided it should be left to
the town board's discretion.
New s. 82.03 (9) through (18) are simply cross-references to sections outside of this
chapter. They have been added to create a more comprehensive list of the duties of the
town board in relation to the highways under its jurisdiction.
New s. 82.03 (19) is based on the last sentence of current s. 81.35. No substantive
change is intended.
AB678, s. 157 13Section 157. 82.05 (1) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,65,1514 82.05 (1) The term of office of highway superintendents shall be one year from
15the date of their appointment.
AB678, s. 158 16Section 158. 82.05 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,65,1817 82.05 (4) The superintendent shall routinely notify the town board of all
18highway work.
AB678, s. 159 19Section 159. 82.08 (8) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,66,5
182.08 (8) Administration charge. The county may charge the towns that apply
2for aid under this section an administration charge. The administration charge shall
3be fixed as a percentage of the total costs of administering aid under this section and
4the percentage shall be no more than the percentage that the county charges the
5state for records and reports.
AB678, s. 160 6Section 160. Subchapter II (title) of chapter 82 [precedes 82.10] of the statutes
7is created to read:
AB678,66,88 chapter 82
AB678,66,109 Subchapter II
10 BASIC PROCEDURES
AB678, s. 161 11Section 161. 82.10 (title), (1) (b), (2), (4) (title) and (b) and (5) of the statutes
12are created to read:
AB678,66,13 1382.10 (title) Initiation of procedures.
AB678,66,14 14(1) (b) A scale map of the land that would be affected by the application.
AB678,66,17 15(2) Resolution. Notwithstanding sub. (1), the town board may initiate the
16process of laying out, altering, or discontinuing a town highway by the introduction
17of a resolution. The resolution shall contain all of the following:
AB678,66,1918 (a) A legal description of the highway to be discontinued or of the proposed
19highway to be laid out or altered.
AB678,66,2020 (b) A scale map of the land that would be affected by the resolution.
AB678,66,21 21(4) (title) Notice recipients.
AB678,66,2422 (b) If procedures are begun under sub. (1), the applicants shall bear the cost of
23publication. If the procedures are begun under sub. (2), the town shall bear the cost
24of publication.
AB678,67,3
1(5) Lis pendens. In the case of an application under sub. (1), the applicant shall
2file a lis pendens under s. 840.11. In the case of a resolution under sub. (2), the board
3shall file a lis pendens within 10 days of the introduction of the resolution.
Note: Current s. 80.02 seemed to require the petition of 6 resident freeholders to
lay, alter, or discontinue a highway. Section 82.10 now allows the board to lay, alter, or
discontinue a highway on its own initiative by the introduction of a resolution. After
introduction, the resolution is treated the same as an application.
AB678, s. 162 4Section 162. 82.11 (title) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,67,5 582.11 (title) Meeting.
AB678, s. 163 6Section 163. 82.12 (title) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,67,7 782.12 (title) Highway order.
AB678, s. 164 8Section 164. 82.14 (title), (1) and (3) of the statutes are created to read:
AB678,67,12 982.14 (title) Acquiring rights to land; damages from discontinuance.
10(1) Unless the acquisition can be made by mutual agreement, the town board shall
11utilize the procedures under s. 32.05 to acquire rights to land for the purpose of laying
12out or altering a town highway.
AB678,67,14 13(3) An owner of property abutting on a discontinued highway whose property
14is damaged by the discontinuance may recover damages as provided in ch. 32.
Note: The special committee decided to eliminate the provisions for acquiring land
in chs. 80 and 81 in favor of requiring the town to utilize the procedures under s. 32.05.
As a result, the following provisions were not carried over into this bill: ss. 80.09, 80.10,
80.30 (1), and 80.24 through 80.29.
New s. 82.14 (3) is based on language that appears in current ss. 66.1003 (4) and
s. 62.73 (3).
AB678, s. 165 15Section 165. 82.15 of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,67,19 1682.15 Appeal of a highway order. Any person aggrieved by a highway order,
17or a refusal to issue such an order, may seek judicial review under s. 68.13. If the
18highway is on the line between 2 counties, the appeal may be in the circuit court of
19either county.

Note: Section 82.15 is based on current s. 80.17. Current s. 80.17 states that the
failure to act on an application within 60 days shall be deemed a refusal. The special
committee decided that the town board should have to consider the application and
affirmatively make a decision. New s. 82.12 creates a 90-day timeline for the board to
act, and the failure to act shall not be deemed a refusal.
AB678, s. 166 1Section 166. 82.16 (3) of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,68,52 82.16 (3) It shall be presumed that a release was given by the owners of the
3lands over which the highway was laid out and the public shall be entitled to use the
4full width of the highway, as laid out, without further compensation if all of the
5following apply:
AB678,68,66 (a) An order laying out the highway has been filed for more than 30 years.
AB678,68,77 (b) No award of damages or agreement or release has been filed.
AB678,68,98 (c) The highway, or a part of the highway, has been used by the public and public
9money has been expended on the highway for at least 5 years.
Note: New s. 82.16 (3) is based on the last sentence of current s. 80.07 (1). No
substantive change is intended.
AB678, s. 167 10Section 167. 82.19 (2) (b) 1. of the statutes is created to read:
AB678,68,1311 82.19 (2) (b) 1. In this paragraph, "vehicular travel" means travel using any
12motor vehicle required to be registered under ch. 341 or exempt from registration
13under s. 341.05.
AB678, s. 168 14Section 168. Subchapter III (title) of chapter 82 [precedes 82.21] of the
15statutes is created to read:
AB678,68,1616 chapter 82
AB678,68,1817 Subchapter III
18 Special Procedures
AB678, s. 169 19Section 169. 82.21 (1) (a) and (b), (4) (title) and (5) (title) of the statutes are
20created to read:
AB678,69,3
182.21 (1) (a) Six resident freeholders of the town, city, or village deliver an
2application to lay out, alter, or discontinue a town line highway to the clerk of every
3town, city, or village that would be affected by the proposal.
AB678,69,54 (b) The town board, city council, or village board introduces a resolution to lay
5out, alter, or discontinue a town line highway.
AB678,69,6 6(4) (title) Apportionment of authority and responsibility.
AB678,69,7 7(5) (title) Appeal of apportionment.
AB678, s. 170 8Section 170. 82.27 (title), (1), (5) (c) and (d), (9) and (10) of the statutes are
9created to read:
AB678,69,12 1082.27 (title) Landlocked property and property with insufficient
11highway access.
(1) Definition. In this section, "advantages" means the greater
12of the following:
AB678,69,1413 (a) The increase in value of the landlocked property after the highway is laid
14out or the way or road is widened.
AB678,69,1815 (b) The administrative costs under sub. (5), and the estimated cost of
16constructing or widening the highway, including both the cost of constructing a
17turnaround, if one is necessary, and the damages paid to the owner of the land over
18which the highway is laid out or the way or road is widened.
AB678,69,19 19(5) (c) Administrative costs such as clerical costs and publication costs.
AB678,69,2120 (d) If special meetings are held only for the purpose of considering the
21application, per diem compensation for the supervisors.
AB678,69,24 22(9) Limit on applications. The determination to deny an application under this
23section shall be final for the term of 3 years. No application to lay out a highway to
24the same property shall be considered within 3 years from the date of the refusal.
AB678,70,3
1(10) Highway to remain public for at least 2 years. A highway laid out under
2this section shall be a public road and shall remain and be maintained as a public
3road for at least 2 years from the date of the order.
Note: The definition of "advantages" in s. 82.27 (1) is new. Under current s. 80.13,
the term "advantages" is not defined. In Roberts v. Town of Springvale, 204 Wis. 2d 110,
552 N.W.2d 898, the court held that advantages ". . . refers to how much of a financial
benefit has inured to the applicant or the enhancement in value of the applicant's land
as a result of the town's decision to lay the highway". While the special committee agreed
that this was a reasonable construction of the statutory language, it decided that the costs
should be allocated differently. Constructing a highway could increase the value of the
landlocked property by a far smaller amount than the cost of construction. The result
would be that the town would pay the difference between the construction cost and the
increased property value. The special committee decided that since the highway would
primarily benefit the landowner, the landowner should bear the cost. The new s. 82.27
retains the term "advantages", but defines it as the greater of the increased value of the
property or the estimated cost of constructing the highway and the damages paid to the
owner.
Section 82.27 (9) and (10) are new. The special committee discussed the fact that
landlocked property owners sometimes file repeated applications to wear down the town
board. Thus, new sub. (9) puts a 3-year limit on filing a new application. The special
committee also discussed the potential problem of a town constructing the highway and
then immediately giving the highway back to the applicant. New sub. (10) requires the
highway to remain a public highway for at least 2 years.
AB678, s. 171 4Section 171. Subchapter IV (title) of chapter 82 [precedes 82.31] of the
5statutes is created to read:
AB678,70,66 chapter 82
AB678,70,87 SUBCHAPTER IV
8 EXISTING HIGHWAYS
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