Senate Bill 708
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 2, 2025
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Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
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Senate vote, not reached
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Assembly 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 Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. The committee's chair at the time was Van Wanggaard. 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 Assembly as AB 731. 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
9 senators are its . All 9 are Democrats.
24 more lawmakers .
See all 33 names Hide the names
Authors (9)
- Tim Carpenter · Democrat, Senate
- Kristin Dassler-Alfheim · Democrat, Senate
- Dora Drake · Democrat, Senate
- Dianne Hesselbein · Democrat, Senate
- LaTonya Johnson · Democrat, Senate
- Chris Larson · Democrat, Senate
- Melissa Ratcliff · Democrat, Senate
- Kelda Roys · Democrat, Senate
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (24)
- Clint Anderson · Democrat, Assembly
- Margaret Arney · Democrat, Assembly
- Jill Billings · Democrat, Assembly
- Ryan Clancy · Democrat, Assembly
- Ben DeSmidt · Democrat, Assembly
- Joan Fitzgerald · Democrat, Assembly
- Russell Goodwin · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Darrin Madison · Democrat, Assembly
- Maureen McCarville · Democrat, Assembly
- Vinnie Miresse · Democrat, Assembly
- Supreme Moore Omokunde · Democrat, Assembly
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Lori Palmeri · Democrat, Assembly
- Priscilla Prado · Democrat, Assembly
- Amaad Rivera-Wagner · Democrat, Assembly
- Ann Roe · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Shelia Stubbs · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- Sequanna Taylor · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelito Tenorio · Democrat, Assembly
- Randy Udell · Democrat, Assembly
- 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 2, 2025
Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
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Dec 2, 2025
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Dec 2, 2025 · Senate
Introduced by Senators Drake, L. Johnson, Ratcliff, Dassler-Alfheim, Hesselbein, Larson, Roys, Spreitzer and Carpenter; cosponsored by Representatives Madison, Taylor, Clancy, Anderson, Arney, Billings, DeSmidt, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Joers, McCarville, Moore Omokunde, Neubauer, Palmeri, Rivera-Wagner, Roe, Sinicki, Stubbs, Subeck, Udell, Vining, Miresse, Prado and Tenorio
- Dec 2, 2025 · Senate
Read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety
- Feb 16, 2026 · Senate
Fiscal estimate received
- Mar 23, 2026 · 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.
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