(The Center Square) – A pair of bills to fund law enforcement databases in Wisconsin, one requiring a statewide database of certain offenses through the Department of Justice will begin on Jan. 1, and another to fund grants for internal police database sharing, recently became law.
The new statewide public database of crimes will not include personally identifiable information but instead will include information on the county where a crime took place, the name of the prosecuting attorney and court official assigned, the criminal charge filed and arrest charge, whether any charges were dismissed, and if the case resulted in a conviction.
Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, sponsored the bill and said that the state’s Consolidated Court Automation Programs works but has limitations.
“The public demands transparency from our legislative and executive branches—and for good reason,” Donovan wrote in testimony supporting the bill. “However, our judiciary is often exempt from similar scrutiny. Time and again, we’ve seen court officials making questionable decisions with dangerous consequences. These decisions, combined with a judicial system that confuses the average citizen, erode trust in the institution.”
Donovan was also a sponsor of the pilot grant program to promote inter-agency sharing along with Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine. That bill was recently signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers.
The bill was supported by several police groups, including the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, along with Peregrine Technologies, which produces software systems for data sharing.
“Employing advanced data-sharing technology can be a force multiplier, leading to more efficient police work, reducing overtime, and improving morale within departments,” Kyle Whyte, a Senior Account Executive at Peregrine, said in testimony on the bill.
Donovan’s testimony cited a 2022 homicide in West Allis and the difficulty in identifying a suspect despite having a description of the getaway vehicle as an analyst had to search a list of 1,000 vehicles matching the description in siloed data platforms to determine if the registered owner matched the description.
“The suspect was eventually identified, but not after approximately a month of manual data searching that could have been expedited through the use of data sharing technology,” Donovan testified. “Senate Bill 279 seeks to streamline inter-agency collaboration to boost closure rates, ensuring criminals are brought to justice swiftly.”

(The Center Square) – The penalty for impersonating a police officer, firefighter or emergency medical officer is now a felony in Wisconsin.
Lawmakers pushed for the change from a misdemeanor to felony after several incidents in the state and when Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed by a man impersonating an officer in June.
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers along with 33 other bills earlier this month.
Bill sponsors said that the update was requested by law enforcement, which cited an incident where a man impersonating U.S. Border Patrol joined an officer at a scene where a teenager had collided with a deer.
“This bill sends a powerful message that impersonating a law enforcement officer isn’t just lying, it’s weaponizing public trust that puts citizens at risk, it underminds confidence in real officers and it enables serious crimes,” said Jim Palmer, Executive Director of Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
Police and lawmakers also cited a 2018 case where a Franklin man impersonated an officer and 2023 cases where a man impersonated a Sun Prairie police officer in a phone scam and one where a Germantown man impersonated a Washington County sheriff’s deputy and claimed he could get charges dropped in exchange for explicit photos and sex.
Now the charges will match those in Wisconsin for impersonating someone who works for a state utility or public officer.
The new law makes impersonating an officer, firefighter or medical first responder a Class I felony punishable by up to 3 ½ years in jail and a $10,000 fine instead of the current misdemeanor where the maximum punishment is nine months.
“At its core, this proposal is about public safety. When someone pretends to be an officer, they put innocent people at risk,” Palmer wrote in testimony on the bill. “We’ve seen cases in Wisconsin where individuals conducted fake traffic stops, wore tactical gear, and claimed authority they did not have. These encounters are not harmless stunts — they are dangerous situations that can escalate quickly, particularly when weapons are involved or when the victims are children, seniors, or others who feel powerless to question authority.”

(The Center Square) – Chronic wasting disease was found in a wild deer in La Crosse County during the state’s annual gun-hunting season, meaning there will now be a two-year baiting ban in the county.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources collects samples each year to detect the disease, which is a fatal, infectious nervous system ailment. The disease can be transmitted through deer-to-deer contact.
Baiting and feeding causes deer to unnaturally group together and a shared food source can lead to the spread of the disease through saliva, blood, feces and urine.
La Crosse County was already under a two-year baiting and feeding ban, which will now go for three years.
Monroe and Vernon counties currently have a three-year baiting and feeding bans in place due to separate positive tests.
The Wisconsin DNR began its program of monitoring the white-tailed deer population in 1999 and the first positive tests appeared in 2002.
The DNR sets up priority areas due to prior positive tests.
Part of the management of CWD includes hunters properly disposing of carcasses, preventing the spread of the disease from an infected deer. Moving a carcass to a new area and not disposing of it properly can lead to further spread.

(The Center Square) – The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $2.45 on Tuesday in Wisconsin, according to GasBuddy.
That’s down from $2.71 a month ago and $2.77 a year ago. It’s also below the national average of $2.82.
As of Monday, there were 40 states with an average price below $3 per gallon, 28 with average prices below $2.75 and 13 states with an average price below $2.50.
“If you’re being told or believe that low #gasprices are currently a sign of economic distress, you’re likely being misled,” GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick DeHaan wrote on Monday. “While low oil prices long term will likely lead to a correction to higher prices, it is because supply is UP, not demand being down.”
Wisconsin had the fifth-lowest gas price in the country in the most recent rankings from the American Automobile Association.
The lowest recorded prices in Wisconsin include $2.10 at the Hometown Citgo in Waukesha, $2.14 at the Osceola Stop Exxon in Osceola, $2.19 at the BP in Durand and $2.22 at seven different stations in Menomonie.
Illinois’ average price per gallon of regular unleaded was $2.93, Michigan was $2.78, Minnesota was $2.65 and Iowa was $2.40.

(The Center Square) – Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol are pushing ahead with their latest climate plan.
Several lawmakers recently introduced what they are calling the Forward on Climate package. It contains more than a dozen plans to do everything from plant more trees, to encourage more sustainable farming, to green energy.
“Wisconsinites are already facing fluctuations in regular weather patterns, including heat waves, worsening floods, and changes in the annual snowfall. We must work to combat the threats of climate change now while also preparing our state for the future,” Rep. Jill Billings, D-Madison, said.
All of the plans came from Gov. Tony Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change. It’s unlikely any of the plans will get a hearing as long as Republicans control the state legislature.
Top Assembly Democrat Greta Neubauer said the package is necessary.
“Our lives, and every generation from here on out, will be affected by climate change. That’s why we need to take action now to secure our shared future and build a resilient economy and state,” she said in a statement. “Our planet is changing. Human activity is affecting weather patterns, growing seasons, and our economy. We’re already feeling it in Wisconsin, from stronger storms to rising costs for weatherization, and it’s time for us to act.”
There are specific pieces of legislation to allow the Public Service Commission to create a program where utilities could “finance” home improvements for customers. Things like HVAC upgrades, solar panel installation, or other energy upgrades could be added to a customer’s bill, which they would then pay off over time.
There are also proposals to spend $1.8 million on new county conservation corps positions and create a new Wisconsin Climate Corps program, and would require the Department of Natural Resources to report the potential environmental impact of any project that needs a DNR approval.
Critics of the plan, however, say nothing in the package will impact global temperatures or pollution, but they say the package will make things in Wisconsin much more expensive.

(The Center Square) – New wedding barn regulations set to go in place Jan. 1 were the subject of lawsuit that was thrown out in Trempealeau County court last month and is now the subject of a bill that would change the restrictions.
The new regulations limit many wedding barns to being rented out just six times per year and once a month for events where alcohol is consumed.
But the new bill would raise that total to 36 events per year.
The bill is sponsored by three Democrats – Sen. Mark Spreitzer, Reps. Clinton Anderson and Jenna Jacobson along with Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franklin.
“I just got married, and I know firsthand how quickly wedding costs are rising,” Anderson said in a statement. “Family-run farm venues allow couples to celebrate without breaking the bank while providing Wisconsin farmers with a critical source of income. This bill is a common-sense fix that keeps weddings affordable and helps farms stay afloat, while undoing the damage 2023 Act 73 did to this industry.”
The previous lawsuit aiming to overturn the law was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of the Farmview Event Barn in Berlin and Monarch Valley Weddings and Events in Blair.
“Hosting low-cost weddings in our barn allows us to pay for maintenance and updates of our home and farm equipment to keep our farm up and running,” Farmview Event Barn owner Jean Bahn said in a statement.
Many farm owners said the new law would force them to cut their total number of events each year by as much as 75%.

(The Center Square) – A financial audit of Wisconsin state government accounting found issues with nearly $900 million in alterations made to Department of Transportation assumptions, issues with the documentation of interest earned on federal funds and found that the state’s Department of Administration has not properly followed guidance on properly monitoring information technology security across state government.
The leaders of the state’s Legislative Audit Bureau – Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia – released the audit while pointing to Gov. Tony Evers using his veto power to remove four additional auditors from the most recent state budget.
“The Wisconsin DOT made a nearly $1 billion mistake, and it was only caught because of the oversight by legislative auditors,” Wimberger and Wittke said in a statement. “This highlights the critical oversight role that the Legislature provides for the people of Wisconsin, and once again proves how short-sighted Governor Evers’ veto of four new auditor positions was.”
The audit also pointed out that a new University of Wisconsin enterprise resource planning system has a potential to lead to future financial reporting delays.
“State agencies must be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and providing accurate and complete financial statements is a major part in good governance,” the leaders said in a statement. “We understand that mistakes happen, but the same mistakes happening year after year raises significant concerns. We look forward to following up with agency leaders to ensure their full compliance with state law.”
In all, Wisconsin earned $185.5 million in interest from the federal coronavirus recovery funds sent to the state for distribution and the state is allowed to spend those funds as it chooses but the funds need to be credited to the state’s general fund.
Wimberger has been outspoken over the past year over the interest funds, saying they need to be appropriately added to the state’s general fund and not be held by Evers or the Department of Administration.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s attorney general doesn’t seem to be looking to cooperate with two investigations, one that involves his office directly.
Attorney General Josh Kaul told the hosts of UpFront that he will not cooperate with the
Trump Administration’s investigation into Wisconsin’s voter rolls.
“What the federal government is doing here is preposterous,” Kaul said. “This is again a conspiracy theory that the Trump administration is chasing.”
The Justice Department has asked all states for unredacted voter lists, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers.
The White House says they are trying to make sure that illegal immigrants aren’t voting.
Wisconsin’s Elections Commission has told the Justice Department that state law bans them from sharing unredacted voter lists. That law specifically outlaws sharing things like Social Security numbers.
Kaul, however, said the idea that illegals are voting in Wisconsin is far- fetched.
“We have had reviews of our elections in Wisconsin over and over and over again, and what they consistently show is that our elections are free and fair,” Kaul added. “The Trump administration can go online and purchase information about voters in Wisconsin just like anybody else can, but what they’re asking for is personally identifying information.”
Kaul said the Justice Department is likely going to have to settle that investigation in court.
Kaul is a little less certain about the Wisconsin Senate’s new oversight committee that is investigating his special environmental prosecutors. He did not say he will not work with Republicans in the Senate, but he didn’t sound enthusiastic to cooperate.
“We are going to review the document request that we received,” Kaul said. “And we are going to make an appropriate response based on what’s in there. Here’s what I can say, though. We are happy to talk about the work that we do at the Wisconsin Department of Justice to protect clean air and clean water.”
Republicans in the State Senate want to see communications between Kaul and the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at New York University. That center is funded by Michael Bloomberg, and lawmakers say they’re worried Kaul is using outside money from outside groups to drive environmental prosecutions in Wisconsin.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly leaders say they will begin impeachment proceedings if Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan does not resign from her post immediately following a felony obstruction conviction Thursday evening.
Dugan was found guilty of obstructing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were attempting to arrest a defendant in her court outside of the courtroom.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, R-Walworth, sent a statement Friday noting that the last Wisconsin judge was impeached in 1853 but that the Assembly would begin impeachment proceedings if Dugan doesn’t resign.
Dugan’s legal team indicated Thursday that she would appeal the jury’s decision.
“Under a 1976 Attorney General Opinion, Democrat Bronson La Follette stated that when a State Senator was convicted of a felony, a vacancy was created, and the Senator ‘was effectually divested of any right or title to the office. His status with reference to the office was fixed at the time of his conviction,’ the leaders wrote. “Such is the case here, and Judge Dugan must recognize that the law requires her resignation.
“Wisconsinites deserve to know their judiciary is impartial and that justice is blind. Judge Hannah Dugan is neither, and her privilege of serving the people of Wisconsin has come to an end.”
The jury found Dugan not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of concealing related to defendant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was later arrested on the street outside the courthouse and has since been deported.
The obstruction charge could lead to up to five years in prison.
The Assembly leaders cited the Wisconsin constitution, which says “‘[n]o person convicted of a felony, in any court within the United States, no person convicted in federal court of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under federal law as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust and no person convicted, in a court of a state, of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under the law of the state as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust shall be eligible to any office of trust, profit or honor in this state unless pardoned of the conviction.”
“While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the failure of the prosecution to secure convictions on both counts demonstrates the opportunity we have to clear Judge Dugan’s name and show she did nothing wrong in the matter,” her legal team said after the verdict was read. “We have planned for this potential outcome and our defense of Judge Dugan is just beginning.”

(The Center Square) – Nearly a year after Milwaukee Public Schools began the work to clean lead out of its school buildings, the district says its classrooms are now lead-free.
MPS said crews finished the last of the lead remediation in the 99th and final school that had lead-based paint.
“This is an important milestone for the MPS community,” MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said. “We have asked so much of our students, families, and staff over the past 10 months as we addressed this issue with the urgency it required…because of the hard work of so many dedicated teams in our district – we can move forward with the peace of mind that our schools are safe.”
MPS had to move students or close parts of six entire school buildings because the lead contamination in those buildings was so bad. The other 90-plus schools had some lead paint, but students were allowed to continue with classes while the work unfolded.
In all, MPS says it cleaned 2,700 classrooms or common areas in those school buildings.
Cassellius had set a Dec. 31 deadline to finish the lead remediation. She said MPS is nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.
MPS’ lead problems were decades in the making. Lead-based paint has been banned in the United States since the 1970s, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that anyone flagged MPS schools. That came after Milwaukee’s health department reported that a handful of children tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood.
Cassellius said she has added both cleaning and maintenance crews to the MPS payroll to monitor and clean up any lead they find going forward. That includes “39 new school-based custodial positions, four new district operations managers who are in schools daily and report concerns immediately, [and] Environmental Health & Safety staff who will continually monitor lead safety by conducting regular checks.”

(The Center Square) – Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of a felony charge of obstruction by a jury Thursday in a case involving the judge’s actions related to a defendant in her court that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were attempting to arrest outside of the courtroom.
The jury returned the verdict at 8:38 p.m. Central Time.
The jury found Dugan not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of concealing related to defendant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was later arrested on the street outside the courthouse and has since been deported.
The obstruction charge could lead to up to a $100,000 fine and a year in prison.
“While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the failure of the prosecution to secure convictions on both counts demonstrates the opportunity we have to clear Judge Dugan’s name and show she did nothing wrong in the matter,” her legal team said. “We have planned for this potential outcome and our defense of Judge Dugan is just beginning.”
Video from the courthouse depicts Dugan speaking with ICE officers in the hallway outside her courtroom and defendant Flores-Ruiz walking through a back hallway with a person identified in an affidavit as his attorney before heading to an elevator and then being chased down and arrested on the street outside of the courthouse.

(The Center Square) – A group of Wisconsin lawmakers are working to add homeless shelters to a list of sites where drug dealing charges will be enhanced by adding up to five years to the maximum term of imprisonment.
Wisconsin currently enhances drug delivery, distribution and intent to distribute charges within 1,000 feet of a park, jail, multi-family housing project, public swimming pool, youth or community center or alcohol/drug abuse treatment center.
Senate Bill 610 would add homeless shelters to that list.
“Homeless shelters serve some of the most vulnerable Wisconsinites including men, women, and children who rely on these facilities for safety, stability, and a path toward recovery or independence. Unfortunately, shelters can become prime targets for drug dealers seeking to prey on that perceived vulnerability,” said Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, a sponsor of the bill.
The American Civil Liberties Union lobbied against the bill and wrote a letter opposing it for the bill’s public hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, saying “In densely populated urban areas, a 1000-foot radius around these enumerated locations often overlaps to the point where an entire city becomes a ‘drug-free zone.’”
The bill will next head to a vote in the Senate committee before reaching the full Senate.
The ACLU said that these enhancements have not proven to deter drug activity in areas around homeless shelters.
“While this bill has a laudable goal—protecting vulnerable individuals seeking shelter and other services from homeless service providers—we have concerns about the unintended consequences of this proposal that diverge from this goal,” the group wrote.

(The Center Square) – People continue to pay a premium for homes across most of Wisconsin.
The latest Wisconsin Realtors Report, this time for November, shows a slight drop in home sales compared to November 2024, though sales continue to grow since January. It also shows the median price for a home in Wisconsin crept-up another few thousand dollars.
“Existing home sales [were] down 9.2% year-over-year, the first monthly decline since May,” Realtors wrote in their report. “Year-to-date sales are up 1.5%. Median prices rose 4.8% to $325,000 in November, while inventory grew 3.7%.”
More than 5,000 homes sold in November, and again more than half of those sales happened in either southeast Wisconsin or in the Madison/Dane County area. Those two parts of the state accounted for 53% of all homes sold in the state.
Though the Realtors note the year-to-year sales drop off was larger in urban areas across the state.
The median price of $325,000 is also a statewide number. Once again, the Madison-area in south central Wisconsin saw the most expensive homes last month. The median price there hit $374,900, while the median price in southeast Wisconsin was $335,500.
The Realtors’ report shows that most of the homes sold in Wisconsin this year are less than $350,000.
Realtors president Tom Larson said he sees some good news in the numbers from November.
“While affordability remains a challenge, we did see progress in November, and there are some promising trends. Mortgage rates continue to trend downward, and the annual rate of home price appreciation averaged just 5.5% through the first 11 months of the year,” Larson said in a statement.
“We hope these trends continue and lead to sustained improvements in affordability in 2026.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin-based Menards has agreed to pay a combined $4.25 million to settle a lawsuit from 10 states related to deceptive marketing for its 11% rebate.
The states attorneys argued that the Eau Claire retailer misled consumers in some cases that the 11% rebate would be a discount that customers would receive at checkout instead of a rebate that needed to be mailed in and returned for a later store credit.
The company agreed to make payments to Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota.
It also agreed to several terms, including allowing one year for customers to return rebate forms and investigating how to create an option for consumers to safely and securely submit rebates online instead of mailing in the forms and receipts.
“Menards’ deceptive marketing left many customers believing they were getting a discount, when, in fact, the store was only offering an in-store credit for future purchases,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “Customers deserve to know what they will be charged when they make a purchase, without deceptive deals and fine print. I’m pleased that this settlement requires Menards to end these practices, and I will continue to work to ensure Illinois consumers are treated fairly.”
Menards agreed to pay Wisconsin $450,000 and Illinois nearly $947,000, Iowa nearly $447,000 while each of the 10 states will receive payments.

(The Center Square) – A group of three women protesting before being handcuffed and receiving citations at a Port Washington Common Council meeting included one who landed a kick on Police Chief Kevin Hingiss and another who shouted obscenities at council members.
The group was protesting the $8 billion Vantage data center project in Port Washington. Those arrested included Christine Le Jeune, Julianne Wanderer and Paula Butler, according to police reports obtained by The Center Square through a public records request.
The three received tickets for disorderly conduct.
Le Jeune spoke at the meeting and then shouted “shame” and “recall” as she headed to her seat.
Video from the meeting showed Hingiss approaching Le Jeune in the audience and asking her to leave.
“Prior to the meeting, City Attorney Nugent addressed the public crowd, establishing the rules and guidelines for decorum throughout the meeting,” Officer James Mejchar wrote in his report. “The crowd was asked to remain respectful and let everyone speak without interruption. The crowd was warned that disruption of the meeting could result in their removal.”
Mejchar and Hingiss wrote in the report that Le Jeune landed a kick
Police Captain Craig Czarnecki wrote that Wanderer left the seating area “and was now approaching the council, yelling at them and I was later informed by council members she was using profanity and calling them names. I could hear her yelling and saw her gesturing and heard her say shame.”
Police said that two of the individuals arrested were released at the scene and “a third was released from the Police Department after obstructing the arresting officer by initially refusing to identify herself.”
Police say that, as they were attempting to take Le Jeune into custody, the other two interfered.
“Two other female subjects who were ultimately identified as Paula Butler and Julianne Wanderer, positioned themselves between officers and Le Jeune. Wanderer grabbed a hold of Le Jeune’s right arm and tried to keep her arm away from officers while Butler positioned herself along Le Jeune’s left side,” Mejchar wrote. “While Le Jeune was laying on her back, facing the ceiling, Butler laid across Le Jeune’s torso, obstructing officers’ ability to successfully take Le Jeune into custody.”