Wisconsin 2025 Regular Session Status: To Executive 7 R cosponsors

SB 25 — An Act to renumber 968.02 (3) and 968.26 (2) (d); to create 968.02 (3) (b) and 968.26 (2) (d) 2. of the statutes;

Last action — Failed to pass notwithstanding the objections of the Governor pursuant to Joint Rule 82

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

This bill has been sent to the executive. Introduced February 05, 2025. It awaits signature.

Vetoed by Governor Tony Evers (Democratic) on November 03, 2025.

Next likely step: the executive signs it into law or issues a veto.

Prognosis

Advancing 58% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • To Executive

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 20 sponsors

    1 primary, 19 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (7 R).

  • Mixed recorded votes

    1 passed, 1 failed in 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.

In plain language

This bill changes rules for filing complaints in officer-involved deaths.

The bill restricts courts from allowing complaints against law enforcement officers in officer-involved deaths unless new evidence is presented after a district attorney decides not to prosecute. It renumbers existing statutes and creates new provisions concerning these situations.

Summary

An Act to renumber 968.02 (3) and 968.26 (2) (d); to create 968.02 (3) (b) and 968.26 (2) (d) 2. of the statutes;

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

22 added · 44 removed

Plain-language change summary

The revised text of Senate Bill 25 establishes that in cases of officer-involved deaths, a circuit court cannot issue a criminal complaint against the officer unless there is new or unused evidence and the district attorney has already determined that there is no basis for prosecution. This change is significant because it limits the circumstances under which a court can intervene, potentially reducing accountability for law enforcement in situations where a death occurs due to their actions. Essentially, it aims to tighten the criteria for judicial involvement in such sensitive cases.

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- 2026 LEGISLATURE LRB-1198/1 CMH:klm SENATE BILL 25 February 5, 2025 - Introduced by SenatoUTTON, BRADLEY, WANGGAARD , EYEN , N ASS, OMCZYK and TESTIN, cosponsored by RepresentativeOSES, DUCHOW , D ITTRICH, PIWOWARCZYK , ARMSTRONG , BROOKS , DONOVAN , B.
Date of enactment:
JACOBSON , P ENTERMAN , M URPHY, T UCKER , W ICHGERS and B EHNKE .
Senate Bill 25 Date of publication*:
Referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
WISCONSIN ACT A N A CT to renumber 968.02 (3) and 968.26 (2) (d);
A N A CT to renumber 968.02 (3) and 968.26 (2) (d);
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under current law, a district attorney has the discretion as to whether or not to issue a complaint to charge a person with a crime.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in sen- S ECTION 3.
Current law also provides that, if a district attorney refuses to issue a complaint against a person, a judge may conduct a hearing to determine if there is probable cause to believe that the person committed a crime and, if so, issue a complaint.
968.26 (2) (d) of the statutes is renum- ate and assembly, do enact as follows:
Under this bill, when there is an officer-involved death, which is a death that results directly from an action or an omission of a law enforcement officer, and the district attorney determined there was no basis to prosecute the officer, a court may not issue a complaint against the involved officer unless there is new or unused evidence presented.
bered 968.26 (2) (d) 1.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
S ECTION 1.
968.02 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 968.02 (3) (a).
- 2026 Legislature - 2 - LRB-1198/1 CMH:klm SENATE BILL 25 SECTION 2 S ECTION 2.
968.02 (3) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
968.02 (3) (b) Notwithstanding par.
(a), unless there is new or unused evidence presented, a circuit court may not permit the filing of a complaint against a law enforcement officer who is involved in an officer-involved death, as defined in s.
175.47 (1) (c), if a district attorney determines there is no basis to prosecute the officer.
S ECTION 3.
968.26 (2) (d) of the statutes is renumbered 968.26 (2) (d) 1.
of the statutes is created to read:
of the statutes is cre- SECTION 1.
968.02 (3) of the statutes is renumbered ated to read:
968.02 (3) (a).
1., unless there is new or unused evidence presented, the judge may not issue a complaint against a law enforcement officer who is involved in an officer-involved death, as defined in s.
1., unless SECTION 2.
175.47 (1) (c), if the district attorney determines there is no basis to prosecute the officer.
968.02 (3) (b) of the statutes is created there is new or unused evidence presented, the judge to read:
S ECTION 5.
may not issue a complaint against a law enforcement of- 968.02 (3) (b) Notwithstanding par.
(a), unless there ficer who is involved in an officer-involved death, as de- fined in s.
175.47 (1) (c), if the district attorney deter- is new or unused evidence presented, a circuit court may mines there is no basis to prosecute the officer.
not permit the filing of a complaint against a law en- forcement officer who is involved in an officer-involved S ECTION 5.
(1) This act first applies to determinations made by a district attorney on the effective date of this subsection.
(1) This act first applies to determinations made by death, as defined in s.
(END)
175.47 (1) (c), if a district attor- a district attorney on the effective date of this ney determines there is no basis to prosecute the officer.
subsection.
ernor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.Y
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Action History

  1. Failed to pass notwithstanding the objections of the Governor pursuant to Joint Rule 82

  2. Placed on calendar 5-12-2026 pursuant to Joint Rule 82 (2)(a)

  3. Report vetoed by the Governor on 10-31-2025

  4. Presented to the Governor on 10-30-2025

  5. Report correctly enrolled

  6. Received from Assembly concurred in

  7. Ordered immediately messaged

  8. Read a third time and concurred in

  9. Rules suspended

  10. Ordered to a third reading

  11. Read a second time

  12. Rules suspended to withdraw from calendar and take up

  13. Placed on calendar 10-14-2025 by Committee on Rules

  14. Read first time and referred to committee on Rules

  15. Representative O'Connor added as a cosponsor

  16. Representative Maxey added as a cosponsor

  17. Received from Senate

  18. Ordered immediately messaged

  19. Read a third time and passed, Ayes 19, Noes 13

  20. Rules suspended to give bill its third reading

  21. Ordered to a third reading

  22. Read a second time

  23. Placed on calendar 3-18-2025 pursuant to Senate Rule 18(1)

  24. Available for scheduling

  25. Report passage without recommendation, pursuant to Senate Rule 27 (4)(a), by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 4, Noes 4

  26. Executive action taken

  27. Senator James added as a coauthor

  28. Public hearing held

  29. Representative Swearingen added as a cosponsor

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

  31. Introduced by Senators Hutton, Bradley, Wanggaard, Feyen, Nass, Tomczyk and Testin; cosponsored by Representatives Moses, Duchow, Dittrich, Piwowarczyk, Armstrong, Brooks, Donovan, B. Jacobson, Penterman, Murphy, Tucker, Wichgers and Behnke

Sponsors

  • Moses · Cosponsor
  • Duchow · Cosponsor
  • Dittrich · Cosponsor
  • Piwowarczyk · Cosponsor
  • Armstrong · Cosponsor
  • Brooks · Cosponsor
  • Donovan · Cosponsor
  • B. Jacobson · Cosponsor
  • Penterman · Cosponsor
  • Murphy · Cosponsor
  • Tucker · Cosponsor
  • Wichgers · Cosponsor
  • Behnke · Cosponsor
  • Rob Hutton · Primary
  • Julian Bradley · Cosponsor
  • Van Wanggaard · Cosponsor
  • Dan Feyen · Cosponsor
  • Steve Nass · Cosponsor
  • Cory Tomczyk · Cosponsor
  • Patrick Testin · Cosponsor

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 19 co-sponsors · 112 not signed on · 11 voted No

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (19)

Not signed on (112)

112 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 112 →

"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

Read a third time and passed

Passed 19 Yea · 13 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 17100
Unaffiliated 1200
Democrat 11001
Total 191301
% of votes cast 58%39%0%3%
How each member voted (33)
Member Party Vote
DASSLER-ALFHEI — Yea
HABUSH SINYKIN — Nay
JOHNSON — Nay
Carpenter, Tim Democrat Nay
Drake, Dora Democrat Nay
Hesselbein, Dianne Democrat Nay
Keyeski, Sarah Democrat Yea
Larson, Chris Democrat Nay
Pfaff, Brad Democrat Nay
Ratcliff, Melissa Democrat Nay
Roys, Kelda Democrat Not Voting
Smith, Jeff Democrat Nay
Spreitzer, Mark Democrat Nay
Wall, Jamie Democrat Nay
Wirch, Robert Democrat Nay
Bradley, Julian Republican Yea
Cabral-Guevara, Rachael Republican Yea
Felzkowski, Mary Republican Yea
Feyen, Dan Republican Yea
Hutton, Rob Republican Yea
Jacque, André Republican Yea
Jagler, John Republican Yea
James, Jesse Republican Yea
Kapenga, Chris Republican Yea
LeMahieu, Devin Republican Yea
Marklein, Howard Republican Yea
Nass, Steve Republican Yea
Quinn, Romaine Republican Yea
Stafsholt, Rob Republican Yea
Testin, Patrick Republican Yea
Tomczyk, Cory Republican Yea
Wanggaard, Van Republican Yea
Wimberger, Eric Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety civil-rights
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 SB 25 do?
An Act to renumber 968.02 (3) and 968.26 (2) (d); to create 968.02 (3) (b) and 968.26 (2) (d) 2. of the statutes;
Who sponsors SB 25?
SB 25 is sponsored by Moses, Duchow, Dittrich, Piwowarczyk, Armstrong, Brooks, Donovan, B. Jacobson, Penterman, Murphy, Tucker, Wichgers, Behnke, Hutton, Rob (Republican), Bradley, Julian (Republican), Wanggaard, Van (Republican), Feyen, Dan (Republican), Nass, Steve (Republican), Tomczyk, Cory (Republican), and Testin, Patrick (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 25?
This bill has been sent to the executive. Introduced February 05, 2025. It awaits signature.
Where can I track SB 25?
Track SB 25 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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