AB 834

Under current law as provided in the U.S. Supreme Court case

Richards v.

Wisconsin

, a law enforcement officer may execute a search warrant without knocking

and announcing his or her presence if he or she has a reasonable suspicion that

knocking and announcing his or her presence, under the particular circumstances,

would be dangerous or futile or would inhibit the effective investigation of the crime.

This bill creates a statutory provision that provides that right to law enforcement

officers and further provides that:

1. No city, village, town, or county may adopt an ordinance or policy that

restricts a law enforcement officer's ability to execute an unannounced search

warrant.

2. No board of fire and police commissioners may prescribe rules or regulations

that restrict a law enforcement officer's ability to execute an unannounced search

warrant.

3. No sheriff or chief of a law enforcement agency may adopt a policy that

restricts a law enforcement officer's ability to execute an unannounced search

warrant.

4. No mayor or common council may issue an order that restricts a law

enforcement officer's ability to execute an unannounced search warrant.

The bill also requires a first class city (currently, only the city of Milwaukee) to

expend a portion of the moneys it receives under the federal American Rescue Plan

Act of 2021 to fund operations of the city's police department. The portion that must

be expended for these purposes is the total amount of ARPA funds received by the

city multiplied by the result of dividing the amount that the city expended in 2021

for law enforcement purposes by the total amount expended by the city from its

general fund in 2021 for all purposes. The bill also requires that in any year that a

first class city receives ARPA funds, the city must expend at least as much from its

general fund for the city's police department as it did in 2021.