AB52: Bill Text

This bill makes several changes to the TAD grant program. Under the bill, counties and tribes may qualify for TAD grants; the bill allows a county or tribe to administer a program jointly with another county or tribe. Under the bill, in order to be eligible for a TAD grant, a project must operate within the continuum from arrest to discharge from supervision and provide an alternative to prosecution, incarceration, or both. Under the bill, a project need not focus solely on alcohol and other drug treatment, but must be evidence-based and designed to promote effective criminal justice policies to reduce prosecution and incarceration costs, reduce recidivism, and enhance justice and public safety.

The bill requires each project to be designed to integrate and coordinate services from several providers, including a participant's behavioral health treatment providers, case managers, and compliance monitors. The bill requires each project to use evidence-based eligibility criteria to determine who may participate in the project and to tailor its services to the needs of each participant or target population.

The bill allows, but does not require, an eligible project to require participants to pay an amount towards their treatment. The bill eliminates the 25 percent matching funds requirement.

Under the bill, DOJ must consult with CJCC to establish eligibility criteria and to determine which county or tribe projects meet the eligibility requirements. The bill requires each county or tribe to establish a criminal justice oversight committee to develop and implement the project design and advise the county or tribe in administering and evaluating its project.

Under the bill, a project must specify whether or not certain violent offenders will be allowed to participate. If so, there must be a victim advocate on the project's oversight committee, if such an advocate exists in the project's county. If the project includes domestic abuse offenders, the oversight committee must consult with a batterers' treatment provider.

Under the bill, each county or tribe that receives a grant must, monthly, submit data requested by DOJ in order to allow DOJ to evaluate the project. The bill requires DOJ to use this data to prepare an annual progress report that it submits to the TAD council and makes available to the public. The bill requires DOJ to prepare, for submission to CJCC and to each house of the legislature, a comprehensive report every five years that includes a cost benefit analysis of the TAD grant program. The evaluation is funded from TAD appropriation, and the DOJ may enter into a contract with an independent entity to conduct the evaluation.

The bill increases an appropriation to the supreme court to fund a statewide treatment court coordinator in the office of the director of state courts.

Home Detention for Probation

Current law provides that if a person is convicted of an offense, for which there is a mandatory or presumptive minimum period of one year or less of imprisonment, a court may place the person on probation if the court requires that the person be confined for at least that mandatory or presumptive minimum period as a condition of the probation. The person is eligible to earn good time credit calculated regarding the period of confinement. In State v. Eastman, 220 Wis. 2d 330, 339, (Ct. App. 1998), the court of appeals clarified that a court's authority did not include the ability to order home detention as a condition of probation if a person is convicted of an offense that provides a mandatory or presumptive minimum period of one year or less of imprisonment.

Current law also authorizes a county sheriff, or a house of correction superintendent, to place in the home detention program any person confined in jail who has been arrested for, charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for a crime.

The bill provides express authority for a court to order that a probationer, including a probationer who is convicted of an offense that provides a mandatory or presumptive minimum period of one year or less of imprisonment, be confined in jail or placed in detention at the probationer's place of residence or other place designated by the court, or both, as a condition of probation during such period of the term of probation as the court prescribes, but not to exceed one year. The detention must be monitored by the use of an electronic device worn continuously on the probationer's person and be capable of providing positive identification of the wearer at the detention location at any time. A probationer in detention is eligible for good time credit. The defendant must agree to the condition of probation; must be given the terms of the condition of probation in writing; and may be required to pay a daily fee to cover the costs associated with home detention monitoring.

AB52,1 Section 1 . 15.145 (5) of the statutes is repealed.

Note: Section 1 repeals the council on offender re-entry in the Department of Corrections (DOC). The council's duties have been assumed by the CJCC, created in this bill.

AB52,2 Section 2 . 15.257 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

AB52,4,5 15.257 (3) Criminal justice coordinating council. (a) There is created in the department of justice a criminal justice coordinating council consisting of the following members:

AB52,4,7 1. The secretary of corrections, or his or her designee, who shall serve as cochairperson.

AB52,4,9 2. The attorney general, or his or her designee, who shall serve as cochairperson.

AB52,4,10 3. The state public defender, or his or her designee.

AB52,4,11 4. A sheriff.

AB52,5,1 5. A chief of police.

AB52,5,2 6. A district attorney.

AB52,5,3 7. The director of state courts, or his or her designee.

AB52,5,4 8. The secretary of workforce development, or his or her designee.

AB52,5,5 9. The secretary of children and families, or his or her designee.

AB52,5,6 10. The secretary of health services, or his or her designee.

AB52,5,7 11. The secretary of veterans affairs, or his or her designee.

AB52,5,9 12. The chairperson of the committee of chief judges of the circuit courts, or his or her designee.

AB52,5,10 13. A county executive or county administrator.

AB52,5,12 14. A county criminal justice coordinator or a member serving on a county criminal justice coordinating council.

AB52,5,14 15. A representative of a crime victim rights or crime victim services organization.

AB52,5,16 16. A person with experience in mental health issues and the criminal justice system.

AB52,5,18 17. A representative of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state.

AB52,5,19 18. Three other members.

AB52,5,21 (b) Each member specified in par. (a) 4. to 6. and 13. to 17. shall be appointed by the governor for a 3-year term.

AB52,5,23 (c) The members specified in par. (a) 1. to 7. shall constitute an executive committee.

AB52,5,25 (d) The criminal justice coordinating council shall meet not less than 4 times each year.

Note: Section 2 creates the CJCC in DOJ.

AB52,3 Section 3. 20.455 (2) (em) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB52,6,5 20.455 (2) (em) Alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for persons who use alcohol or other drugs; presentencing assessments. The amounts in the schedule for making grants to counties and tribes under s. 165.95 (2) and entering into contracts under s. 165.95 (5p) (c).

Note: This Section and Sections 4, 5, 10 , 25, 27 , 30, 32 , 33, 34 , 35, 38 , and 40 allow tribes, in addition to counties, to be eligible recipients of TAD grants and to enter into contracts to operate TAD projects.

AB52,4 Section 4 . 20.455 (2) (kn) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB52,6,11 20.455 (2) (kn) Alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for persons who use alcohol or other drugs; justice information fee. The amounts in the schedule for administering and making grants to counties and tribes under s. 165.95 (2). All moneys transferred from the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (1) (id) 5. shall be credited to this appropriation account.

AB52,5 Section 5 . 20.455 (2) (kv) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB52,6,16 20.455 (2) (kv) Grants for substance abuse treatment programs for criminal offenders projects. All moneys received under s. 961.41 (5) (c) 2. or 973.043 for the purpose of making grants to counties and tribes under s. 165.95 (2) and entering into contracts under s. 165.95 (5p) (c).

AB52,6 Section 6. 165.847 of the statutes is created to read:

AB52,6,19 165.847 Criminal justice coordinating council. The criminal justice coordinating council shall do all of the following:

AB52,7,2 (1) Study and provide recommendations to the governor, the legislature, the department of corrections, the department of health services, and the department of workforce development on matters related to coordinating the services of state and local government agencies and nongovernmental entities in the criminal justice system to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and public safety.

AB52,7,8 (2) Provide recommendations to the governor, the legislature, the department of corrections, the department of health services, and the department of workforce development regarding the use of evidence-based practices, risk reduction programming, crime prevention, diversion, and community-based alternatives to confinement to increase public safety, reduce recidivism, and improve offender and system accountability.

AB52,7,11 (3) Study county-level programs related to criminal justice, including treatment alternatives, diversion initiatives, and specialty courts, and disseminate information about programs the council determines are effective and innovative.

AB52,7,13 (4) Facilitate the development of county or multicounty criminal justice oversight committees.

AB52,7,17 (5) Provide recommendations to the governor, the legislature, the department of corrections, the department of health services, and the department of workforce development regarding the collection and synthesis of real-time criminal justice data and the tracking of system indicators.

AB52,7,20 (6) Assist the governor in identifying stable and adequate funding sources for the criminal justice system and identifying areas where greater cost-effectiveness could be achieved.

AB52,7,21 (7) Assist the governor in evaluating criminal justice policies.

AB52,8,2 (8) Study, and make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, the department of corrections, the department of health services, and the department of workforce development, regarding areas in the criminal justice system in which improved collaboration and coordination would increase the effectiveness or efficiency of services by eliminating duplication, filling service gaps, or improving the quality of services provided.

AB52,8,7 (9) Study whether racial, demographic, or other disparities exist between treatment court participants and individuals who are denied participation, and make recommendations to the governor, the attorney general, the legislature, the department of corrections, and the department of justice, on how to remediate such disparities.

AB52,8,9 (10) Assist the governor with strategic planning for, and management of, federal block grant or federal formula grant funds.

AB52,8,14 (11) Annually, submit a report on the progress of the council's work to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3), the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court, the department of corrections, the department of health services, and the department of workforce development.

AB52,8,16 (12) Develop a system that tracks and reports, on a monthly basis, state criminal justice data, including all of the following:

AB52,8,18 (a) The rate of violent crime, as reported by law enforcement agencies in uniform crime reports or incident-based reports.

AB52,8,19 (b) The average daily population of prisons and county jails.

AB52,8,20 (c) The number of felony criminal cases filed in circuit courts.

AB52,8,21 (d) The number of persons sentenced to prison by the circuit courts.

AB52,8,23 (e) The number of persons imprisoned due to revocation of parole or extended supervision.

AB52,8,24 (f) The number of persons imprisoned due to probation revocation.

AB52,8,25 (g) The number of persons released to parole or extended supervision.

AB52,9,1 (h) The number of persons placed on probation by the courts.

AB52,9,3 (i) The number of persons discharged from probation, parole, or extended supervision.

Note: This Section sets forth the duties of the CJCC.

AB52,7 Section 7 . 165.95 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB52,9,6 165.95 (1) (intro.) In this section, "violent offender" means a person to whom one of the following applies:

AB52,8 Section 8. 165.95 (1) (a) of the statutes is repealed.

Note: Sections 7 , 13, and 15 repeal the current definition of "violent offender" used in the TAD program; this definition is recreated in Section 11 of the bill. Section 15 also repeals the requirement that any county that receives a grant under this section on or after January 1, 2012, shall provide matching funds that are equal to 25 percent of the amount of the grant.

AB52,9 Section 9 . 165.95 (1) (ag) of the statutes is created to read:

AB52,9,11 165.95 (1) (ag) "Evidence-based" means using research to determine how effective a practice is at achieving positive measurable outcomes, including reducing recidivism and increasing public safety.

Note: Sections 9 , 10, 11 , and 12 create definitions of "evidence-based," "tribe," "violent offender," and "violent offense," which are used in the TAD program as modified in this bill.

AB52,10 Section 10 . 165.95 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB52,9,13 165.95 (1) (am) "Tribe" has the meaning given in s. 165.91.

AB52,11 Section 11 . 165.95 (1) (ar) of the statutes is created to read:

AB52,9,16 165.95 (1) (ar) "Violent offender" means a person who has been charged with or convicted of a violent offense in a pending case.

AB52,12 Section 12 . 165.95 (1) (av) of the statutes is created to read:

AB52,9,18 165.95 (1) (av) "Violent offense" means any of the following:

AB52,9,20 1. An offense during which the person carried, possessed, or used a dangerous weapon.

AB52,10,1 2. An offense during which the person used force against another person.

AB52,10,3 3. As a result of the person's offense, a person died or suffered serious bodily harm.

AB52,10,4 4. A serious sex offense, as defined in s. 939.615 (1) (b).

AB52,13 Section 13 . 165.95 (1) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

AB52,14 Section 14 . 165.95 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB52,10,17 165.95 (2) The department of justice shall make grants to counties and to tribes to enable them to establish and operate programs projects, including suspended and deferred prosecution programs projects and programs based on principles of restorative justice, projects that operate within the continuum from arrest to discharge from supervision that provide alternatives to prosecution and, incarceration, or both, for criminal offenders who abuse alcohol or other drugs. The department of justice shall make the grants from the appropriations under s. 20.455 (2) (em), (kn), and (kv). The department of justice shall collaborate with the departments of corrections and health and family services in establishing this grant program criminal justice coordinating council in order to maximize the impact of the projects funded by grants awarded under this section.

Note: Section 14 changes references in the current TAD statute from "program" to "projects." It also describes TAD describes TAD projects as those "that operate within the continuum from arrest to discharge from supervision" and that provide alternatives to prosecution, incarceration, or both. Also, it provides that these projects are not limited to criminal offenders who abuse alcohol or other drugs. Finally, it requires the DOJ to consult with the CJCC, rather than the departments of corrections and family services, both of which are members of the CJCC.