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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Senate Bill 847

Written resource guides informing inmates and juveniles in custody of their rights and making an appropriation. (FE)

Topics: Administration, Department of: Agency and general functions, Corrections, Department of, House of correction, Jail, Juvenile detention facility, Organization, Miscellaneous, Prison, Sheriff

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.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Jan 15, 2026

  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, 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 860. That version died when the session ended.

What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill provides that for adult inmates, the Department of Corrections for state correctional institutions or the county sheriff for county jails or county houses of correction must maintain a written resource guide that enumerates the rights of adult inmates of a state correctional institution or county jail or house of correction. Under the bill, DOC or the sheriff must update the resource guide once per year or within one week of a legal change or institutional practice change that affects inmates’ rights. DOC or the sheriff must post the resource guide throughout the state correctional institution or county jail or house of correction and provide copies to each inmate upon entering the facility, being placed under restricted movement, being placed in solitary confinement, or upon request at any time. The warden or superintendent of a state correctional institution or the sheriff of a county jail or house of correction, or a designee who has been trained to understand and explain the resource guide, must explain an inmate’s rights as set forth in the resource guide upon the inmate entering the state correctional institution, county jail, or house of correction; upon the inmate transferring between state correctional institutions, county jails, or houses of correction; or upon request at any time.

The bill also provides the same requirements for juveniles in custody, except that DOC is responsible for maintaining the written resource guide relating to juveniles, posting and distributing the resource guide for type 1 juvenile detention facilities, and ensuring that any juvenile detention facility, secured residential care center for children and youth, or juvenile portion of the county jail approved by DOC has a plan to distribute the resource guide. The superintendent, or a designee who has been trained to understand and explain the resource guide, must explain a juvenile’s rights as set forth in the resource guide upon the juvenile entering a facility, upon the juvenile transferring between facilities, or upon request at any time.

Read the full summary

Under the bill, the initial development of the written resource guides is to be completed via a contract through the Department of Administration with a legal organization that has experience upholding the civil rights of inmates and juveniles in correctional institutions and jails. To be awarded the contract for the development of the resource guides, the organization must demonstrate that it will 1) engage representatives from state and local governments and prison reform and advocacy organizations in the development process; 2) use at least 30 percent of the contract funds to employ individuals who were formerly incarcerated or detained in a Wisconsin state correctional institution or county jail to develop the resource guides; and 3) finish development of the resource guides by June 30, 2027. Under the bill, the requirements for DOC and county sheriffs to maintain the resource guides goes into effect on July 1, 2027.

Who's behind it

3 senators are its ⁠. All 3 are Democrats.

19 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 22 names

Authors (3)

Signed on in support (19)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

What happened

  1. Mar 23, 2026

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Feb 27, 2026

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Jan 20, 2026

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  4. Jan 15, 2026

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.

  5. Jan 15, 2026

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Jan 15, 2026 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators L. Johnson, Larson and Spreitzer; cosponsored by Representatives Madison, Haywood, Rivera-Wagner, Arney, Bare, Clancy, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Goodwin, Hong, Joers, Ortiz-Velez, Phelps, Sheehan, Sinicki, Stroud, Tenorio and Udell

  2. Jan 15, 2026 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety

  3. Jan 20, 2026 · Senate

    Representative Palmeri added as a cosponsor

  4. Feb 27, 2026 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  5. 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.

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