Skip to content
Bills from the 2019–20 session

Assembly Bill 33

Expungement of records of certain crimes. (FE)

Passed the Assembly, then stopped

The Assembly passed it on May 15, 2019, but the Senate never voted on it. A bill has to ⁠. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Feb 22, 2019

  2. Committee, passed

    Approved

  3. Assembly vote, passed

    Passed May 15, 2019

  4. Senate vote, stopped here

    Stopped here. The Senate never voted on it.

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 1, 2020: “Failed to concur in pursuant to ⁠”

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.

Under current law, a court may order a person's criminal record expunged of a crime for which the maximum term of imprisonment is six years or less (Class H felony and below) if the person committed that crime before the age of 25, the person had not been previously convicted of a felony, and the crime was not a violent felony.

Current law specifies that the expungement order must be made only at sentencing and then the record is expunged when the person completes his or her sentence.

Read the full summary

This bill removes the condition that the person committed the crime before the age of 25 (the bill retains the requirements that the crime be no greater than a Class H felony, the person had no previous felony convictions, and the crime was not a violent felony) and makes certain traffic crimes ineligible for expungement. This bill also provides that, if the sentencing court did not order the record expunged, the person may file a petition with the sentencing court after he or she completes his or her sentence. Upon receipt of the petition, the court must review the petition and then may order the record expunged or may deny the petition. If the court denies the petition, the person may not file another petition for two years, and no person may file more than two petitions per crime. The changes described in this paragraph retroactively apply to persons who were convicted of a crime before this bill takes effect.

This bill also allows the sentencing court to order that a person's record not be eligible for expungement. This bill provides that, if a record is expunged of a crime, that crime is not considered a conviction for employment purposes and specifies that employment discrimination because of a conviction record includes requesting a person to supply information regarding a crime if the record has been expunged of the crime.

Who's behind it

55 lawmakers are its ⁠. 29 are Republicans and 26 are Democrats.

20 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 75 names

Authors (55)

Signed on in support (20)

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 2 votes on this bill.

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

Passed, 12 to 0 · Apr 29, 2019

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

Official motion: “Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 12, Noes 0”. Official record · This vote on its own page

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

Passed, 10 to 1 · Apr 29, 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 10, Noes 1”. Official record · This vote on its own page

What happened

  1. Apr 1, 2020

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. May 16, 2019

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Senate Organization.

  3. May 16, 2019

    The Senate received it.

  4. May 15, 2019

    2 more representatives signed on in support.

  5. May 15, 2019

    The Assembly passed it.

  6. May 15, 2019

    The Assembly adopted it.

  7. May 15, 2019

    “Withdrawn from joint committee on Finance and taken up” (the official wording)

  8. May 15, 2019

    Sent to the Joint Committee on Finance.

  9. Apr 29, 2019

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Rules.

  10. Apr 29, 2019

    The committee voted to recommend passing it, 10 to 1.

  11. Mar 18, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  12. Mar 7, 2019

    The committee held a public hearing.

  13. Mar 7, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  14. Mar 6, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  15. Feb 27, 2019 to Mar 5, 2019

    3 more representatives signed on in support.

  16. Feb 25, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  17. Feb 22, 2019

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

  18. Feb 22, 2019

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Feb 22, 2019 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Steffen, Goyke, Allen, Anderson, Billings, Born, Bowen, Brooks, Brostoff, Cabrera, Considine, Crowley, Doyle, Edming, Felzkowski, Fields, Gundrum, Haywood, Hintz, Kerkman, Kolste, Krug, Kulp, Loudenbeck, Mursau, Myers, Novak, Nygren, Ohnstad, Petryk, Plumer, Pope, Pronschinske, Quinn, Ramthun, Riemer, Rohrkaste, Sargent, Schraa, Sinicki, Skowronski, Snyder, Sortwell, Spiros, Spreitzer, Stubbs, Subeck, Tauchen, C. Taylor, Thiesfeldt, Tittl, Vining, Vruwink, Zamarripa and Zimmerman; cosponsored by Senators Darling, Risser, L. Taylor, Bernier, Carpenter, Feyen, Johnson, Larson, Olsen, Petrowski, Ringhand, Schachtner, Smith, Testin, Tiffany, Wanggaard and Wirch

  2. Feb 22, 2019 · Assembly

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

  3. Feb 25, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Feb 27, 2019 · Assembly

    Representative Gruszynski added as a coauthor

  5. Mar 5, 2019 · Assembly

    Representatives Neubauer and Emerson added as coauthors

  6. Mar 6, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  7. Mar 7, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  8. Mar 7, 2019 · Assembly

    Public hearing held

  9. Mar 18, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  10. Mar 26, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Steffen

  11. Mar 28, 2019 · Assembly

    Executive action taken

  12. Apr 29, 2019 · Assembly

    LRB correction

  13. Apr 29, 2019 · Assembly

    Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 12, Noes 0

  14. Apr 29, 2019 · Assembly

    Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 10, Noes 1

  15. Apr 29, 2019 · Assembly

    Referred to committee on Rules

  16. May 9, 2019 · Assembly

    Placed on calendar 5-15-2019 by Committee on Rules

  17. May 9, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 2 offered by Representative Steffen

  18. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Read a second time

  19. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Referred to joint committee on Finance

  20. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Withdrawn from joint committee on Finance and taken up

  21. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 1 adopted

  22. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Assembly Amendment 2 adopted

  23. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Ordered to a third reading

  24. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Rules suspended

  25. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Read a third time and passed

  26. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Representatives Hesselbein and Shankland added as coauthors

  27. May 15, 2019 · Assembly

    Ordered immediately messaged

  28. May 16, 2019 · Senate

    Received from Assembly

  29. May 16, 2019 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to committee on Senate Organization

  30. May 16, 2019 · Senate

    Available for scheduling

  31. Apr 1, 2020 · Senate

    Failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Second chamber's vote

A bill has to pass both the Assembly and the Senate in the same form before it goes to the governor.

Official term: Concurrence. 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

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

Second chamber's vote

A bill has to pass both the Assembly and the Senate in the same form before it goes to the governor.

Official term: Concurrence

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

Roll call

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

Official term: Roll call vote

More in the glossary