Skip to content
Bills from the 2015–16 session

Senate Bill 656

Prohibiting issuance of citations for alcohol beverages violations to certain underage persons in connection with sexual assault or certain other crimes and prohibiting certain disciplinary sanctions if the underage person is a student

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

    Feb 1, 2016

  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 13, 2016: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

Following saves it on this device. New actions show on your Following page. You can also get updates in a feed reader.

What it would have done

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

This bill prohibits issuance of an underage alcohol beverage citation to, or related student disciplinary action by the University of Wisconsin System against, an underage person who is a victim of, or bystander to, specified crimes and who cooperates with emergency responders when they arrive.

Under current law, a person who has not attained the legal drinking age of 21 years and who is not accompanied by his or her parent, guardian, or spouse who is at least age 21 (underage person) may not: 1) procure or attempt to procure alcohol beverages from an alcohol retailer; 2) possess or consume alcohol beverages on licensed retail premises or knowingly possess or consume alcohol beverages elsewhere; 3) enter or be on licensed retail premises, subject to various exceptions;

Read the full summary

or 4) falsely represent his or her age to obtain alcohol beverages from a retailer (underage violation). A person who commits an underage violation is subject to various penalties, including a forfeiture ranging in amount from $250 to $1,000 depending on the number of prior underage violations the person has committed.

Under this bill, an underage person may not be issued a citation for, or convicted of, an underage violation if all of the following apply:

1. The underage person claims to have been the victim of sexual assault, human trafficking, sexual assault of a child, sexual exploitation of a child, or specified other sex-related crimes (crime victim) or is present with the crime victim at the time of or immediately following the alleged crime (bystander).

2. The crime victim or bystander requested emergency assistance in connection with the alleged crime or encountered a law enforcement officer at a medical facility at which the crime victim received treatment in connection with the alleged crime.

3. The underage person remains at the scene until emergency assistance arrives and thereafter cooperates with providers of emergency assistance. If the underage person encounters a law enforcement officer at a medical facility, the underage person cooperates with the officer and furnishes any requested information. This requirement to cooperate, however, does not apply if the underage person lacks capacity to cooperate.

4. The underage person has not fraudulently requested emergency assistance to avoid a citation for an underage violation.

The bill also prohibits the Board of Regents of the UW System and any two-year or four-year UW System school from imposing specified disciplinary sanctions against a student who commits an underage violation, but only if the bill exempts the student from a citation or conviction for the violation. The prohibited disciplinary sanctions are the following: 1) removal from a course in progress; 2) enrollment restrictions on a course or program; 3) suspension or expulsion; and 4) exclusion from student housing.

Who's behind it

6 senators are its ⁠. 4 are Republicans and 2 are Democrats.

30 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 36 names

Authors (6)

Signed on in support (30)

What happened

  1. Apr 13, 2016

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Feb 16, 2016

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Feb 1, 2016

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.

  4. Feb 1, 2016

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Feb 1, 2016 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Petrowski, Gudex, Harsdorf, C. Larson, Lassa and Olsen; cosponsored by Representatives Ballweg, Bernier, Billings, E. Brooks, Czaja, Horlacher, Jacque, Johnson, Kahl, Kleefisch, Krug, Loudenbeck, Murphy, Novak, Nygren, A. Ott, Petryk, Rohrkaste, Schraa, Sinicki, Skowronski, Spiros, Subeck, Swearingen, C. Taylor, VanderMeer, Zamarripa, Wachs and Spreitzer

  2. Feb 1, 2016 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety

  3. Feb 16, 2016 · Senate

    Representative Shankland added as a cosponsor

  4. Apr 13, 2016 · 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

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