Laying out, altering, or discontinuing a town line highway

What it does

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

Under current law, the procedure to lay out, alter, or discontinue a highway on the line between a town and another town, a city, or a village (municipality), or a highway extending from one town into an adjoining municipality, may be initiated when one of the following occurs in each affected municipality: 1) six resident freeholders of the municipality deliver an application to lay out, alter, or discontinue a town line highway to the clerk of every municipality that would be affected by the proposal, or 2) the town board, city council, or village board introduces a resolution to lay out, alter, or discontinue a town line highway. After the requisite applications are delivered or resolutions are adopted, the governing bodies of the municipalities, "acting together," take the actions affecting the covered town line highway. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in Dawson v. Town of Jackson , 336 Wis. 2d 318 (2011) determined that the "acting together" requirement means that, while the municipal governing bodies must "come together and cooperate to resolve a joint application . . . the statute does not mandate the creation of a new, combined board. Approval of both [governing bodies] is necessary . . . ." This bill clarifies the language of the statute to confirm the holding of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Who's behind it

Jim Ott, a Republican, is its author⁠.