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Bills from the 2019–20 session

Senate Bill 127

Creation of a prosecutor board and a state prosecutors office; funding for the department of justice, assistant district attorneys, the public defender, and the courts; Public Defender Board regulation, and making an appropriation. (FE)

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

    Mar 20, 2019

  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 1, 2020: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Financial Services, Government Oversight and Courts. 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.

Courts and procedure Public defender Under current law, the Public Defender Board may promulgate rules to assure that representation of indigent clients by the private bar is at the same level as the representation provided by the state public defender. Under this bill, the board's authority to promulgate rules is expanded to include setting standards for and imposing conditions upon private bar attorney certification, decertification, or recertification to represent clients. The bill also adds the following list of reasons as grounds for which the office of the state public defender may exclude a private bar attorney from a public defender list: 1) the attorney has failed to meet minimum attorney performance standards adopted by the state public defender; 2) the attorney has failed to comply with the supreme court rules of professional conduct for attorneys; 3) the attorney has engaged in conduct that is contrary to the interests of clients, the interests of justice, or the interests of the state public defender; or 4) the state public defender learns of any information that raises a concern about the attorney's character, performance, ability, or behavior.

The bill changes the rate at which the public defender must pay a private local attorney to whom a case is assigned from $40 per hour for time spent related to a case to $70 per hour for time spent related to a case. The bill provides $16,612,700 in each fiscal year of the 2019-21 biennium for the rate increase.

Read the full summary

The bill provides $1,767,900 GPR in fiscal year 2019 and $3,535,800 in fiscal year 2020-21 to fund the assistant state public defender pay progression plan, which is a plan in current law that consists of 17 hourly salary steps, with each step equal to one-seventeenth of the difference between the lowest hourly salary and the highest hourly salary for the salary range for the assistant state public defender positions.

The bill directs the Public Defender Board to conduct a student loan payment pilot program for private bar attorneys who accept public defender appointments.

The program would provide a payment to private bar attorneys that they may use to repay student loans of up to $20,000 per year for attorneys in counties with a population of 25,000 or less who agree to accept at least 50 state public defender appointments per year. The bill provides $250,000 in each fiscal year of the 2019-21 biennium for the program.

District Attorneys The bill creates an independent prosecutor board that oversees and sets policies for a state prosecutors office, also created in the bill. Under the bill, the executive director of the state prosecutors office manages the office; prepares personnel policies,

Who's behind it

3 senators are its ⁠. All 3 are Republicans.

14 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 17 names

Authors (3)

Signed on in support (14)

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.

What happened

  1. Apr 1, 2020

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Nov 11, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Apr 10, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. Mar 20, 2019

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Insurance, Financial Services, Government Oversight and Courts.

  5. Mar 20, 2019

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 20, 2019 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Jacque, Bernier and Wanggaard; cosponsored by Representatives Tusler, Ott, Brooks, James, Kurtz, Murphy, Mursau, Petersen, Pronschinske, Quinn, Shankland, Thiesfeldt, VanderMeer and Wichgers

  2. Mar 20, 2019 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Insurance, Financial Services, Government Oversight and Courts

  3. Apr 10, 2019 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Sep 20, 2019 · Senate

    Senate Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Senator Jacque

  5. Nov 11, 2019 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  6. Apr 1, 2020 · 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.

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