Wisconsin Sex Offender Laws and Regulations

In the year 1993 the Wisconsin Act 479 was enacted as Wisconsin’s involuntary civil commitment law for sexual offenders. The Wisconsin Act 479 came into effect on June 2, 1994 and is quite similar to the present Wisconsin law that provides custodial treatment for those people who are mentally ill. The Act is better known as Sexual Predator Law which has been created as Chapter 980 of the Wisconsin Statutes and is titled as ‘Sexually Violent Person Commitments.’

The civil commitment can only be imposed after a plausible hearing of the reasons for such an act and even a trial in the circuit court. The sexual predator law or the Wisconsin Sex Offender law is also known as “Gerald Turner Law”. The name has been given after the man who was convicted in 1973 for the sexual assault and murder of the Fond du Lac Girl.

Wisconsin Sex Offender Law

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held the Wisconsin sex offender law to be constitutional on December 8, 1995. A ruling given by the court stated that the Wisconsin sex offender law is not punitive in nature. It was put forward by the court that the law would offer treatment to the perpetrators together with providing the means of protection to the public.

A person convicted of serious sex offenses is required to register with the state authorities after he is released from the incarceration or prison facilities. This is done in accordance with the Section 301.45 of the Wisconsin statutes. The sex offender is required to register every year as well.

The Wisconsin sex offender law considers offenses like first, second or third-degree sexual assault of an adult, incest, sexual exploitation to be serious crimes that need to be registered in the sex offender registry. There are some other crimes like first or second degree sexual assault of a child, engaging in repeated acts of sexual assault of the child, sexual exploitation of a child, forcing a child to view or listen to sexual activity, incest, child enticement, soliciting a child for prostitution, sexual assault of a student by a school instructional staff person, exposing a child to harmful material, possession of child pornography, abduction of another person’s child and false imprisonment or kidnapping of a minor which are treated as explicit instances of sex offenses.

Information Required for Registration

The Wisconsin sex offender law needs an offender to provide specific information while registering. The information required includes the name of the offender along with his aliases, date of birth, gender, race, height, weight and color of the hair and eye. The person must also provide detailed information about the offense, the nature of the case along with the terms of probation, supervision, conditional transfer or supervised release.

The present address of residence, information supervising agency, description of the motor vehicle owned by him or which is registered in his name along with the name and location of the person’s employer or the school the person will be attending also requires  to be included in the records. The Department of Corrections should be provided with updated information within 10 days of change of residence or employment. Details of registration can be checked from http://offender.doc.state.wi.us/public/.

A person convicted of sex offenses in Wisconsin should register as a sex offender for 15 years after the date of his discharge. A person, who is less than 19 years of age at the time of the violation, can be exempted from registering if the court ruling endorses it. Failure to register can result in penalties for the sex offender residing in the state of Wisconsin.