Prison riot
Upon appropriate call, state traffic patrol officers may act as peace officers during a prison riot or other disturbance even when this occurs during a strike of prison guards; they may not, however, perform other duties of guards. 68-104
Private detectives
Section RL 3.24 Wis. Adm. Code prohibits use of any badge by those engaged in private detective activity. Non-misleading private use by those not engaged in private detective activity not prohibited by statute. 68-169
Radio channel for police and emergency use
A sheriff's actions in determining access to a county's law enforcement channel are ministerial in nature. The negligent exercise of that authority could subject the sheriff to liability. 76-7
Rail safety
Federal legislation has explicitly preempted the field of rail safety and not conferred authority on state or local law enforcement officials to conduct drug tests of locomotive engineers involved in grade crossing accidents in Wisconsin. However, this legislation does not preempt state regulation of drugs and narcotics. Thus, state or local law enforcement officials acting pursuant to their authority to enforce the state's general criminal statutes may conduct drug tests of locomotive engineers provided that the testing comports with the fourth amendment. 81-78
Release on bail
Acting under the authority of section 969.07, Stats., local law enforcement officials may deny release from custody to a person arrested for a misdemeanor if in the officials' opinion the person is not in a fit condition to care for his or her own safety or would constitute, because of his or her physical condition, a danger to the safety of others. 75-209
Residence requirements
Sections 62.13(4)(d) and 66.11(1), Stats., making citizenship a prerequisite to becoming a police officer or deputy sheriff violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution when applied to resident aliens. 65-273
Retirement
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended, does not invalidate secs. 41.02(23), Stats., or 41.11(1), Stats., nor the 35 year maximum age requirement for applicants for deputy sheriffs established by the Waukesha County Civil Service Commission. 63-530
Schools and School Districts
School boards have authority to enforce policies which mandate the manner, conditions, and content of police interviews with students on school premises during school hours, although they should exercise considerable restraint in doing so. The preferable course is for school boards and local law enforcement to work together to jointly develop policies that will best serve the legitimate needs of each government arm, without unnecessarily intruding on those of the other. 81-126
Sheriffs
A Wisconsin law enforcement officer may transport a prisoner out of state for emergency medical treatment. Upon leaving Wisconsin, a law enforcement officer from the receiving state must take custody of the prisoner. The prisoner may be brought back to Wisconsin using the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, section 976.03, Stats. 80-41
Pursuant to section 51.20(14), Stats., the director of the county department under section 51.42 or 51.437 may request the sheriff of the county in which an individual was placed under emergency detention to transport that individual to another designated inpatient facility prior to the initial court hearing under chapter 51, and the sheriff must do so within a reasonable time. 80-299
A sheriff may not unilaterally withdraw most forms of investigative services provided within one urbanized town within a county. 81-24
Sheriff's files
Sheriff's criminal investigation files are not covered by a blanket exemption from the public records law, but denial of access may be justified on a case-by-case basis. 77-42
State patrol
A state traffic patrol officer should not except in extreme emergencies be impressed for service as part of a posse comitatus pursuant to sec. 59.24(1), Stats. Where duly impressed he is entitled to worker's compensation, if injured, from the county or municipality but would not be entitled to regular pay from the State and probably would not be entitled to worker's compensation from the State. 62-38
Upon appropriate call, state traffic patrol officers may act as peace officers during a prison riot or other disturbance even when this occurs during a strike of prison guards; they may not, however, perform other duties of guards. 68-104
Students interviewed at schools
School boards have authority to enforce policies which mandate the manner, conditions, and content of police interviews with students on school premises during school hours, although they should exercise considerable restraint in doing so. The preferable course is for school boards and local law enforcement to work together to jointly develop policies that will best serve the legitimate needs of each government arm, without unnecessarily intruding on those of the other. 81-126
Temporary jail officers
Section 165.85(4)(b)2, Stats., does not preclude the temporary assignment of uncertified persons to fill in as jail officers when necessary as a result of sickness, vacations or scheduling conflicts. 78-146
Testimony, credibility of
In a criminal case in which a police officer testifies as a witness for the prosecution, a district attorney may have a duty under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), to disclose to the defendant information that another police officer in the same police department had claimed that the officer-witness did not tell the truth under oath in court in another, unrelated case. 75-62
Transporting a criminal across state lines
A Wisconsin law enforcement officer may transport a prisoner out of state for emergency medical treatment. Upon leaving Wisconsin, a law enforcement officer from the receiving state must take custody of the prisoner. The prisoner may be brought back to Wisconsin using the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, section 976.03, Stats. 80-41
Warrantless arrest
A warrantless arrest and detention for bail jumping, section 946.49, Stats., is authorized if probable cause exists that the arrestee violated the contact prohibition in section 968.075(5)(a)1. after being released under chapter 969. 78-177
Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance
A grant from the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance may properly be paid as salary increases to the district attorney and his or her assistants in the form of overtime, without violating section 59.49(1), Stats., provided the county makes allowance for such grant funds in its budget and duly passes salary increases for the district attorney and his assistants as provided by sections 66.197 and 59.15(2)(c). 77-63
LAYOFFS
See LABOR
LEASES
Mining
Department of Natural Resources may grant contracts for mining beneath beds of navigable lakes and waters and licenses for prospecting on state park and forest lands, but it may not grant leases for mining purposes on state park and forest lands. (Unpub.). 58-1976
Nonresident property owners
Exploration and mining rights constitute interests in land, and ownership of such interests are subject to the provisions of sec. 710.02, Stats., limiting nonresident ownership of land in Wisconsin. 69-126
Schools and school districts
Common school districts have the authority to lease property that they own if such property is not currently needed for school purposes and if the lease is authorized by the annual meeting of the common school district. The answer is not free from doubt and it is recommended that the Legislature specifically grant to school boards, if authorized by the annual meeting, the authority to lease school property not currently needed for school purposes. 67-332
State
Wis. Const. art. VIII, sec. 7(2)(d), does not preclude the State from entering into a lease with a nonprofit corporation or other entity furnishing facilities for governmental functions unless there is an attempt to use the lease as part of a scheme for the State to acquire title to or the use of a facility without utilizing State general obligation bonding. 62-296
LEGAL NOTICE
See NEWSPAPERS; OPEN MEETING
LEGAL RESIDENCE
See LAW ENFORCEMENT; RESIDENCE, DOMICILE AND LEGAL SETTLEMENT
LEGAL SETTLEMENT
See RESIDENCE, DOMICILE AND LEGAL SETTLEMENT
LEGISLATION
Accumulated sick leave conversion credit
Statutory changes to the state accumulated sick leave conversion credit program contained in 1991 Wisconsin Act 39 (1991 budget bill) which determine the conversion credit based on a salary rate determined after terminating employment violate article IV, section 26 of the Wisconsin Constitution.
The Employe Trust Funds board has the standing to allege that the statutory changes are unconstitutional notwithstanding the general rule that state agencies or public officers cannot question the constitutionality of a statute. 80-187
Appropriation bill
The Governor may not alter vetoes on a partially approved and partially disapproved appropriation bill once the approved portion of the Act has been delivered to the Secretary of State pursuant to law and the disapproved portion returned to the house of origin. 70-154
