SB 65 — Relating to: impoundment of vehicles used in certain reckless driving offenses. (FE)

- 2026 LEGISLATURE LRBa0083/1LRB-2000/1 EVM:cdcEVM:emw&skw SENATE AMENDMENT 1, TO SENATE BILL 65 MarchFebruary 13,21, 2025 - OfferedIntroduced by SenatANGGAARDSenators W ANGGAARD and T OMCZYK , cosponsored by Representatives D ONOVAN , RODRIGUEZ , ALLEN , DITTRICH, D UCHOW , GOODWIN , GUNDRUM , KNODL, M AXEY, MELOTIK, M URPHY, M URSAU, N OVAK, O'CONNOR , ORTI-VELEZ , ENTERMAN , IWOWARCZYK , TEFFEN , TITT, TUSLER and W ICHGERS .

AtReferred theto locationsCommittee indicated,on amendJudiciary theand billPublic asSafety. follows:

1.A N A CT to amend 349.115 (1) and 349.115 (3);

Pageto 2,create line349.115 5:(1m) of the statutes;

afterrelating XcitationYto: insert Xor making an arrestY.

2.impoundment of vehicles used in certain reckless driving offenses.

PageAnalysis 3,by linethe 8:Legislative Reference Bureau Under current law, a political subdivision may enact an ordinance authorizing law enforcement officers to impound vehicles used in reckless driving offenses if the person cited for reckless driving is the owner of the vehicle and the person has a prior reckless driving conviction for which a forfeiture was imposed that has not been fully paid.

deleteUnder XcitationYthis andbill, substitutesuch Xcitationan chargeY.ordinance may authorize the impoundment of any vehicle used in a reckless driving offense regardless of ownership of the vehicle or prior record of the operator.

The bill also provides that a local ordinance may authorize impounding such a vehicle until outstanding fines and forfeitures owed by the vehicle’s owner are fully paid.

Also under the bill, upon impounding a vehicle under such an ordinance, the law enforcement officer must attempt to determine if the vehicle has been reported as stolen, and if so, the officer or the impounding political subdivision must attempt to contact the owner.

If the vehicle is reported as stolen, the vehicle must be released to the owner without the payment of a fee or charge.

- 2026 Legislature - 2 - LRB-2000/1 EVM:emw&skw SENATE BILL 65 SECTION 1 For further information see the local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

S ECTION 1.

349.115 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

349.115 (1) A political subdivision may, by ordinance, authorize a law enforcement officer to impound any vehicle used in the commission of a violation of s.

346.62 or a local ordinance in strict conformity with s.

346.62 at the time of issuing a citation for the offense if the person cited is the owner of the vehicle and the person has a prior conviction for a violation of s.

346.62 or a local ordinance in strict conformity with s.

346.62 for which a forfeiture was imposed that has not been fully paid.

The ordinance may provide for impoundment of the vehicle until the person fully pays the prior forfeiture amount and reasonable costs of impounding the vehicle, including towing or other transportation costs and storage costs, and any outstanding fine or forfeiture owed by the owner of the vehicle are fully paid.

S ECTION 2.

349.115 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:

349.115 (1m) Upon impounding a vehicle under sub.

(1), a law enforcement officer shall make a reasonable effort to determine if the vehicle has been reported as stolen.

If the officer determines that the vehicle has been reported as stolen, the officer or political subdivision shall make a reasonable attempt to contact the owner.

Notwithstanding sub.

(2), the political subdivision shall return to its owner a vehicle reported as stolen and impounded under sub.

(1) without the payment of a fee or charge.

If a vehicle reported as stolen remains unclaimed for more than 60 days after impoundment, the political subdivision may dispose of the vehicle - 2026 Legislature - 3 - LRB-2000/1 EVM:emw&skw SENATE BILL 65 S ECTION 2 following the same procedure as provided for disposing of an abandoned vehicle under s.

342.40.

SECTION 3.

349.115 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

349.115 (3) A Subject to sub.

(1m), a political subdivision that has impounded a vehicle under sub.

(1) may dispose of the vehicle by following the same procedure as provided for disposing of an abandoned vehicle under s.

342.40 if the impounded vehicle remains unclaimed for more than 90 days after the disposition of the citation for which the vehicle was impounded.