Wisconsin 2025 Regular Session Status: Passed Assembly Bipartisan · 12 R · 1 D cosponsors

AB 53 — Relating to: special circumstances battery to a community service officer and providing a penalty.

Last action — Failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Assembly
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Assembly. Introduced February 24, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 74% · high confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed Assembly

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 15 sponsors

    1 primary, 14 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (12 R · 1 D) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

An Act to amend 940.203 (2) (intro.), (a) and (b) of the statutes;

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

42 added · 15 removed

Plain-language change summary

The amendment to Bill AB 53 adds a definition for "community service officer" and specifies that intentionally causing or threatening bodily harm to such an officer in the line of duty will now be considered a Class H felony. This change is significant because it aims to enhance protections for community service officers, similar to those already in place for law enforcement officers, thereby acknowledging their important role in public safety. This amendment signifies a broader effort to ensure that all individuals serving the community in a law enforcement capacity are protected against violence when performing their duties.

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Latest
- 2026 LEGISLATURE LRBa0010/1 CMH:amn&skw ASSEMBLY AMENDMENT 1, TO ASSEMBLY BILL 53 March 4, 2025 - Offered by RepresentatOEBEN .
- 2026 LEGISLATURE LRB-0725/1 CMH:cdc ASSEMBLY BILL 53 February 24, 2025 - Introduced by RepresentatiOEBEN , RMSTRONG , MURPHY , D ITTRICH, NEDWESKI, B.
At the locations indicated, amend the bill as follows:
J ACOBSON, C ALLAHAN, B RIL, A LLEN, SUBECK , W ICHGERS, M URSAU and B EHNKE , cosponsored by Senators JAMES and T OMCZYK.
1.
Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.
Page 2, line 1:
A N A CT to amend 940.203 (2) (intro.), (a) and (b) of the statutes;
before that line insert:
relating to:
XSECTION 1h.
special circumstances battery to a community service officer and providing a penalty.
940.203 (1) (ah) of the statutes is created to read:
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under current law, a person who intentionally causes bodily harm to another person commits the crime of simple battery and is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
940.203 (1) (ah) XCommunity service officerY means a person who has not been sworn in as a law enforcement officer but who is employed by a law enforcement agency to provide nonemergency law enforcement services, enforce municipal ordinances, perform routine law enforcement tasks, assist law enforcement officers, and conduct community outreach for the law enforcement agency.Y.
Current law provides greater penalties for special circumstances battery, which is defined as intentionally causing or threatening to cause bodily harm to certain persons.
For example, under current law, a person who intentionally causes or threatens to cause bodily harm to a law enforcement officer in response to an action that officer took in an official capacity is guilty of a Class H felony.
The bill adds a community service officer so to make it a Class H felony to cause or threaten to cause bodily harm to a community service officer in response to an action the CSO took in an official capacity.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
- 2026 Legislature - 2 - LRB-0725/1 CMH:cdc ASSEMBLY BILL 53 SECTION 1 S ECTION 1.
940.203 (2) (intro.), (a) and (b) of the statutes are amended to read:
940.203 (2) (intro.) Whoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause bodily harm to the person or family member of any judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer, or community service officer under all of the following circumstances is guilty of a Class H felony:
(a) At the time of the act or threat, the actor knows or should have known that the victim is a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer, or community service officer or a member of the judge’s, prosecutor’s, or law enforcement officer’s, or community service officer’s family.
(b) The act or threat is in response to any action taken by a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer, or community service officer in an official capacity.
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Action History

  1. Failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

  2. Representative Emerson added as a coauthor

  3. Representative Anderson added as a coauthor

  4. Representative Billings added as a coauthor

  5. Representative Brown added as a coauthor

  6. Read first time and referred to committee on Judiciary and Public Safety

  7. Received from Assembly

  8. Ordered immediately messaged

  9. Read a third time and passed

  10. Rules suspended

  11. Ordered to a third reading

  12. Assembly Amendment 1 adopted

  13. Read a second time

  14. Representatives Miresse, O'Connor and Stubbs added as coauthors

  15. Withdrawn from Committee on Rules and referred to calendar of 6-24-2025

  16. Referred to committee on Rules

  17. Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 13, Noes 0

  18. Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Ayes 13, Noes 0

  19. Executive action taken

  20. Representative Spaude added as a coauthor

  21. Public hearing held

  22. Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Goeben

  23. Read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety

  24. Introduced by Representatives Goeben, Armstrong, Murphy, Dittrich, Nedweski, B. Jacobson, Callahan, Brill, Allen, Subeck, Wichgers, Mursau and Behnke; cosponsored by Senators James and Tomczyk

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 14 co-sponsors · 117 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (14)

Not signed on (117)

117 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 117 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

public-safety
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 53 do?
An Act to amend 940.203 (2) (intro.), (a) and (b) of the statutes;
Who sponsors AB 53?
AB 53 is sponsored by James, Tomczyk, Goeben, Joy (Republican), Armstrong, David (Republican), Murphy, David (Republican), Dittrich, Barbara (Republican), Nedweski, Amanda (Republican), Jacobson, Brent (Republican), Callahan, Calvin (Republican), Brill, Lindee (Republican), Allen, Scott (Republican), Subeck, Lisa (Democrat), Wichgers, Chuck (Republican), Mursau, Jeffrey (Republican), and Behnke, Elijah (Republican).
What is the current status of AB 53?
This bill has passed the Assembly. Introduced February 24, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track AB 53?
Track AB 53 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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