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Bills from the 2019–20 session

Assembly Bill 188

Facilities for holding juveniles in secure custody. (FE)

Became law

The governor signed it on Jul 1, 2019. It's ⁠.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Apr 25, 2019

  2. Committee, passed

    Approved

  3. Assembly vote, passed

    Passed Jun 20, 2019

  4. Senate vote, passed

    Passed 33 to 0

  5. Governor, passed

    Signed

  6. Law, here now

    2019 Wisconsin Act 8

Latest entry in the official record, Jul 1, 2019: “Published 6-29-2019”

Read the bill

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What it does

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

This bill does all of the following:

1. Makes certain changes to the grant program for the design and construction of new secured residential care centers for children and youth (SRCCCYs) under 2017 Wisconsin Act 185 .

Read the full summary

2. Changes the closure date for the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools.

3. Modifies how juveniles who are transferred between an SRCCCY or a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility and the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center (MJTC) are supervised and released.

4. Changes the provisions for grandfathering current juvenile detention programs and allows the temporary transfer of juveniles from Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools into certain juvenile detention centers without a change-in-placement order.

5. Changes the requirements for the purchase of services between counties and the Department of Corrections.

6. Makes other changes to clarify the intent of Act 185.

Changes to the juvenile corrections grant program Act 185 created a grant program for counties to construct new SRCCCYs for the purpose of holding in secure custody juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent and given a correctional placement. Under Act 185, grant applications are due to the juvenile corrections grant committee by March 31, 2019, and the committee is responsible for submitting a plan to the Joint Committee on Finance for which applications to fund no later than July 1, 2019. This bill provides a three-month extension to the timeline for submitting grant applications to the grant committee and for the grant committee to submit the plan for funding grant applications to JCF.

Under Act 185, a grant to construct a new SRCCCY covers 95 percent of the county's cost for design and construction, except that the grant covers 100 percent of the county's cost for design and construction for a girls-only facility. Act 185 also provided that DOC will reimburse a girls-only facility any net operating loss, as determined by the Legislative Audit Bureau. This bill changes the grant program so that 100 percent of the portion of any facility that is designed and constructed to hold female juveniles is paid for by the grant program, and that the net operating loss reimbursement applies to any portion of a facility that houses female juveniles or any portion of services provided to female juveniles at the facility.

Closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools Act 185 also requires the current juvenile correctional facility owned and operated by DOC (Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools) to be closed no later than January 1, 2021, or when all of the juveniles that are held there are transferred to the new county-run SRCCCYs or a new state-run juvenile correctional facility, also funded by and required to be established by DOC under Act 185. This bill extends the timeline for closing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools and for constructing the new SRCCCYs and new state-run juvenile correctional facility by six months, to July 1, 2021.

Act 185 also provides a youth aids bonus of 15 percent of the county's annual youth aids payment or $750,000, whichever is less, to any county that agrees to operate a joint SRCCCY for two or more counties. This bill provides the youth aids bonus to any county that operates an SRCCCY that serves juveniles from more than one county.

Transfer and supervision of juveniles between facilities This bill specifies that when a juvenile is placed at MJTC under a change-in-placement order, the Department of Health Services is responsible for determining the date of the transfer and is responsible for determining whether to release a juvenile who has been placed there back to the county.

Existing juvenile detention programs Under Act 185, existing programs to hold juveniles in a juvenile detention facility for up to one year will be grandfathered in and allowed to hold a number of juveniles equal to the facility's population on January 1, 2021. This bill changes the cap for the grandfathered juvenile detention programs under Act 185 to a number of juveniles equal to the three-year average daily population of the facility between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2021. This bill also allows DOC to transfer juveniles from Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools to the existing programs without a change-in-placement order. Under the bill, juveniles who are so transferred must be placed in an SRCCCY or Type 1 juvenile correctional facility by July 1, 2021.

County budgets This bill repeals the current law requirement for counties to submit an annual budget to DOC for the purchase of juvenile correctional services and the requirements for contracts between counties and DOC for the purchase of juvenile correctional services.

Who's behind it

35 lawmakers are its ⁠. 18 are Republicans and 17 are Democrats.

8 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 43 names

Authors (35)

Signed on in support (8)

What it would cost

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

Versions and amendments

Every text the Legislature printed for this bill, including proposed changes. Each opens on the Legislature's site.

How lawmakers voted

There were 4 votes on this bill.

Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety vote on an amendment

Passed, 13 to 0 · Jun 18, 2019

No member-by-member record exists for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.

Official motion: “Report Assembly Amendment 3 adoption recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 13, Noes 0”. Official record · This vote on its own page

Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety vote to recommend it

Passed, 13 to 0 · Jun 18, 2019

No member-by-member record exists for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.

Official motion: “Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 13, Noes 0”. Official record · This vote on its own page

Senate vote

Passed, 3 to 2 · Jun 21, 2019

No member-by-member record exists for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.

Official motion: “Public hearing requirement waived by committee on Senate Organization, pursuant to Senate Rule 18 (1m), Ayes 3, Noes 2”. Official record · This vote on its own page

Senate vote to pass it

Passed, 33 to 0 · Jun 26, 2019

See how each of the 33 senators voted

D: Democrat, R: Republican

Official motion: “CONCURRENCE”. Official record · This vote on its own page

What happened

  1. Jul 1, 2019

    The new law was published.

  2. Jul 1, 2019

    The governor signed it. It became 2019 Wisconsin Act 8.

  3. Jun 28, 2019

    Sent to the governor.

  4. Jun 26, 2019

    The Senate passed it too, 33 to 0.

  5. Jun 21, 2019

    “Public hearing requirement waived by committee on Senate Organization, pursuant to Senate Rule 18 (1m), Ayes 3, Noes 2” (the official wording)

  6. Jun 21, 2019

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Senate Organization.

  7. Jun 20, 2019

    The Senate received it.

  8. Jun 20, 2019

    The Assembly passed it.

  9. Jun 20, 2019

    The Assembly adopted it.

  10. Jun 19, 2019

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  11. Jun 18, 2019

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Rules.

  12. Jun 18, 2019

    The committee voted to recommend passing it, 13 to 0.

  13. Jun 12, 2019

    The committee held a public hearing.

  14. Jun 12, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  15. Jun 6, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  16. May 23, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  17. May 3, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  18. Apr 30, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  19. Apr 25, 2019

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

  20. Apr 25, 2019

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Apr 25, 2019 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Schraa, Goyke, Bowen, Billings, Born, Brooks, Considine, Crowley, Edming, Emerson, Felzkowski, Hesselbein, James, Kitchens, Knodl, Kolste, Krug, Kulp, Milroy, Mursau, Myers, Novak, Ohnstad, Pope, Ramthun, Rohrkaste, Sargent, Sinicki, Spiros, Steffen, Stubbs, Subeck, Tauchen, Vining and Zimmerman; cosponsored by Senators Wanggaard, L. Taylor, Darling, Feyen, Jacque, Johnson and Tiffany

  2. Apr 25, 2019 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety

  3. Apr 30, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. May 3, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  5. May 3, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  6. May 23, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  7. Jun 6, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  8. Jun 11, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representatives Schraa, Goyke, Bowen and Crowley

  9. Jun 12, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  10. Jun 12, 2019 · Assembly

    Public hearing held

  11. Jun 12, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 2 offered by Representative Tauchen

  12. Jun 13, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 3 offered by Representative Schraa

  13. Jun 13, 2019 · Assembly

    Executive action taken

  14. Jun 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Report Assembly Amendment 3 adoption recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 13, Noes 0

  15. Jun 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 13, Noes 0

  16. Jun 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Referred to committee on Rules

  17. Jun 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 4 offered by Representative Schraa

  18. Jun 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 5 offered by Representative Tauchen

  19. Jun 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Placed on calendar 6-20-2019 by Committee on Rules

  20. Jun 19, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Representative Schraa

  21. Jun 19, 2019 · Assembly

    Representative Zamarripa added as a coauthor

  22. Jun 20, 2019 · Assembly

    Read a second time

  23. Jun 20, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 adopted

  24. Jun 20, 2019 · Assembly

    Ordered to a third reading

  25. Jun 20, 2019 · Assembly

    Rules suspended

  26. Jun 20, 2019 · Assembly

    Read a third time and passed

  27. Jun 20, 2019 · Assembly

    Ordered immediately messaged

  28. Jun 20, 2019 · Senate

    Received from Assembly

  29. Jun 21, 2019 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to committee on Senate Organization

  30. Jun 21, 2019 · Senate

    Available for scheduling

  31. Jun 21, 2019 · Senate

    Public hearing requirement waived by committee on Senate Organization, pursuant to Senate Rule 18 (1m), Ayes 3, Noes 2

  32. Jun 21, 2019 · Senate

    Placed on calendar 6-26-2019 pursuant to Senate Rule 18(1)

  33. Jun 26, 2019 · Senate

    Read a second time

  34. Jun 26, 2019 · Senate

    Ordered to a third reading

  35. Jun 26, 2019 · Senate

    Rules suspended

  36. Jun 26, 2019 · Senate

    Read a third time and concurred in, Ayes 33, Noes 0

  37. Jun 26, 2019 · Senate

    Ordered immediately messaged

  38. Jun 26, 2019 · Assembly

    Received from Senate concurred in

  39. Jun 27, 2019 · Assembly

    LRB correction (Assembly Substitute Amendment 1)

  40. Jun 27, 2019 · Assembly

    Report correctly enrolled on 6-27-2019

  41. Jun 28, 2019 · Assembly

    Presented to the Governor on 6-28-2019

  42. Jul 1, 2019 · Assembly

    Report approved by the Governor on 6-28-2019. 2019 Wisconsin Act 8

  43. Jul 1, 2019 · Assembly

    Published 6-29-2019

Terms on this page

Wisconsin Act

The number a bill gets when it becomes law, like 2025 Wisconsin Act 12.

Official term: Act. 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

Roll call

A vote where each lawmaker's yes or no is recorded by name.

Official term: Roll call vote. More in the glossary

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

Wisconsin Act

The number a bill gets when it becomes law, like 2025 Wisconsin Act 12.

Official term: Act

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

Roll call

A vote where each lawmaker's yes or no is recorded by name.

Official term: Roll call vote