Assembly Bill 731
Telecommunications service access by inmates and juveniles and making an appropriation. (FE)
Topics: Corrections, Department of, House of correction, Jail, Juvenile detention facility, Prison, Sheriff, Telecommunications
Stopped in committee
It never got a , so it never came up for a vote. The last day for votes this session was Mar 19, 2026. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.
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Introduced, passed
Dec 3, 2025
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Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
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Assembly vote, not reached
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Senate vote, not reached
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Governor, not reached
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Law, not reached
Latest entry in the official record, Mar 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ”
It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Corrections. The committee's chair at the time was Dean Kaufert. Chairs decide which bills get a hearing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.
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The same bill was also filed in the Senate as SB 708. That version died when the session ended.
Terms on this page
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. 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
What it would have done
Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.
This bill requires the Department of Corrections and counties to provide certain minimum free telecommunications service access to inmates of state prisons and county jails or houses of correction and juveniles being held in a juvenile correctional facility or detention facility. The bill also provides that telecommunications services may not be used to replace in-person visitation and provides that DOC and counties may not charge inmates or juveniles for access to telecommunications services beyond the required minimums per week and may not charge any other person for the telecommunications services accessed by the inmate or juvenile.
Under the bill, DOC and counties are required to minimize costs for telecommunications services by consolidating contracts for such services. The bill provides that DOC must contract for telecommunications services and must allow counties to join the contract at no cost to the county or, if a county does not join the contract, the county must request, and DOC must provide, reimbursement for the cost to provide telecommunications services to inmates up to the amount those services would have cost under DOC’s contract.
Read the full summary Show less
Under the bill, if a county does not join DOC’s contract, it must submit a report to the legislature describing why it has not joined the contract. The bill also provides that DOC and any county that does not join DOC’s contract must annually submit a report to the legislature that contains a copy of all contracts for telecommunications services, along with a summary of the rates and fees being paid for inmate telecommunications services and data on inmate and juvenile use of telecommunications services, including monthly call and message volume.
The bill phases in the minimum telecommunications service access requirements over 18 months and provides to DOC $4,980,500 in the 2025-26 fiscal year and $14,374,600 in the 2026-27 fiscal year to pay for inmate and juvenile telecommunications services and to reimburse counties for inmate telecommunications services.
Who's behind it
18 representatives are its . All 18 are Democrats.
6 more lawmakers .
See all 24 names Hide the names
Authors (18)
- Margaret Arney · Democrat, Assembly
- Mike Bare · Democrat, Assembly
- Ryan Clancy · Democrat, Assembly
- Ben DeSmidt · Democrat, Assembly
- Russell Goodwin · Democrat, Assembly
- Francesca Hong · Democrat, Assembly
- Andrew Hysell · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Darrin Madison · Democrat, Assembly
- Vinnie Miresse · Democrat, Assembly
- Christian Phelps · Democrat, Assembly
- Amaad Rivera-Wagner · Democrat, Assembly
- Angela Stroud · Democrat, Assembly
- Shelia Stubbs · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- Sequanna Taylor · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelito Tenorio · Democrat, Assembly
- Randy Udell · Democrat, Assembly
Signed on in support (6)
- Dora Drake · Democrat, Senate
- Chris Larson · Democrat, Senate
- Supreme Moore Omokunde · Democrat, Assembly
- Kelda Roys · Democrat, Senate
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
- Robyn Vining · Democrat, Assembly
What it would cost
State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.
What happened
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Mar 23, 2026
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
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Feb 16, 2026
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Dec 17, 2025 to Jan 21, 2026
2 more representatives signed on in support.
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Dec 3, 2025
Sent to the Assembly Committee on Corrections.
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Dec 3, 2025
Introduced in the Assembly.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Dec 3, 2025 · Assembly
Introduced by Representatives Clancy, Phelps, Hong, Madison, Arney, Goodwin, Hysell, Rivera-Wagner, Taylor, Tenorio, Bare, DeSmidt, Joers, Miresse, Stroud, Stubbs, Subeck and Udell; cosponsored by Senators Drake, Larson, Roys and Spreitzer
- Dec 3, 2025 · Assembly
Read first time and referred to Committee on Corrections
- Dec 17, 2025 · Assembly
Representative Vining added as a coauthor
- Jan 21, 2026 · Assembly
Representative Moore Omokunde added as a coauthor
- Feb 16, 2026 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- Mar 23, 2026 · Assembly
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.
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. 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.
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
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