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Bills from the 2009–10 session

Senate Bill 178

Requiring persons who violate certain restraining orders or injunctions to be monitored by a global positioning system, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty

Topics: Corrections, Department of, Court: Procedure, Crime and criminals, Data processing: Criminal acts and law enforcement, Legislature: Criminal Penalties, Joint Review Committee on, Women

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Apr 24, 2009

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Senate vote, not reached

  4. Assembly vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 28, 2010: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Under current law, an individual who is, or who acts on behalf of, a victim of abuse, harassment, or threats may obtain a temporary restraining order against the person who has committed the acts of abuse, harassment, or making a threat. The restraining order bars the person from contacting the victim and requires the person to stay away from the victim's residence and other places temporarily occupied by the victim until a court conducts a hearing to determine whether the restraining order should be incorporated into a longer lasting injunction.

If the court determines that the person has engaged in, or may engage in, acts of abuse, harassment, or threats against the victim, the court may issue an injunction against the person. An injunction may stay in effect for up to four years and bars the person from contacting the victim, requires the person to stay away from the victim's residence, and may require the person to stay away from other locations temporarily occupied by the victim.

Read the full summary

A person who violates a restraining order or an injunction may be fined up to $1,000 and imprisoned for up to nine months, except that a person who violates a restraining order or injunction that was issued only for harassment faces the same fine but may be imprisoned for up to 90 days.

This bill allows a court to order a person who is convicted of violating a restraining order or an injunction to submit, for the duration of the restraining order or injunction, to global positioning system (GPS) tracking by the Department of Corrections (DOC). The bill also allows a court to order, as a condition of release, a person who is charged with violating a restraining order or an injunction to submit to GPS tracking. The bill requires the court to consider a request for GPS tracking by a district attorney or by the individual who asked for the restraining order.

Under the bill, DOC must monitor the person's whereabouts with a GPS device and, if the person enters into an area that he or she is required to avoid under the terms of the restraining order or injunction, DOC must immediately notify local law enforcement and the victim. Under the bill, everyone who violates a restraining order is required to pay a $200 surcharge in addition to his or her fine that will be used toward the costs of GPS tracking. The bill makes it a Class I felony, punishable by a fine up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to three years and six months, or both, for a person to tamper with the GPS device.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.

Who's behind it

5 senators are its ⁠. 3 are Democrats and 2 are Republicans.

51 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 56 names

Authors (5)

Signed on in support (51)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

What happened

  1. Apr 28, 2010

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Apr 13, 2010

    “Report of joint review committee on Criminal Penalties requested pursuant to s. 13.525 (5) Wisconsin Statutes” (the official wording)

  3. Jun 3, 2009

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. May 6, 2009

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  5. Apr 24, 2009

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing.

  6. Apr 24, 2009

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Apr 24, 2009 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Carpenter, Vinehout, Olsen, Kreitlow and Darling;Cosponsored by Representatives Zipperer, Suder, Pasch, Roys, Kerkman, Turner, Cullen, Lothian, Gundrum, Kleefisch, Kramer, Brooks, Ripp, Van Roy, LeMahieu, Ballweg, Barca, Berceau, Bies, Dexter, Fields, Gunderson, Hilgenberg, Honadel, Huebsch, Kaufert, Knodl, Meyer, Milroy, Molepske Jr., Montgomery, Mursau, Murtha, Nerison, Newcomer, Nygren, A. Ott, J. Ott, Petersen, Petrowski, Pridemore, Roth, Schneider, Spanbauer, Stone, Strachota, Vos, Vruwink, Vukmir, Wood and Ziegelbauer

  2. Apr 24, 2009 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to committee on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing

  3. May 6, 2009 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. May 6, 2009 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  5. Jun 3, 2009 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  6. Apr 13, 2010 · Senate

    Report of joint review committee on Criminal Penalties requested pursuant to s. 13.525 (5) Wisconsin Statutes

  7. Apr 28, 2010 · Senate

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate