Wisconsin

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Technical Report

Technical Summary

In Wisconsin, first-time Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) offenses are treated as civil rather than criminal offenses and may be adjudicated by municipal courts. Wisconsin statutes prohibit prosecutors from reducing OWI offenses to lesser offenses, and deferred prosecution also is generally prohibited.

Wisconsin imposes both an administrative and a court-imposed license suspension for the first OWI offense. The administrative penalties include a mandatory six-month suspension for persons who fail the BAC test and a mandatory one-year revocation if the BAC test is refused. The administrative penalties are imposed 30 days after the date of the offense. If the driver fails the test, the law enforcement officer takes immediate possession of the driver's license and gives notice to the driver that the license will be administratively suspended and that the driver has the right to obtain an administrative and judicial review. This notice serves as a 30-day temporary license. The officer then forwards the license to the Division of Motor Vehicles, which suspends the license if the driver does not appeal. The process is similar in the case of a test refusal, except that the officer gives the driver a notice to revoke by court order, and then forwards the license to the court, with copies to the prosecutor and the Division of Motor Vehicles. Upon conviction for OWI, offenders receive a court-imposed license revocation of six to nine months. The administrative and court-imposed license penalties must run concurrently.

Table 2.1 Laws in Wisconsin and New Jersey During Study Period: First-time Standard Alcohol-impaired Driving Offense and First-time Driving While Suspended for Alcohol-impaired Driving Offense Persons 21 Years and Older
*Alcohol-Impaired Driving*	*Wisconsin*	*New Jersey*
Offense	Operating While Impaired (OWI); civil offense	Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), quasi-criminal offense; test refusal charged as separate offense
Per Se Level	>.10	> .10
Definition of First Offense	No prior OWI within past 10 years	No prior DWI within past 10 years
Administrative License Sanction	BAC > .10: mandatory 6-month suspension, effective 30 days after arrest; became 6-month revocation effective 5/1/01 Test Refusal: mandatory 1-year revocation, effective 30 days after arrest	None
Court-Imposed License Sanction	6 – 9 month suspension (mandatory 6 months); must be served concurrently with administrative suspension	6 month – 1 year suspension (mandatory 6 months), effective at time of conviction; additional mandatory 6-month revocation for test refusal, served consecutively with DWI suspension
Occupational License	Available to all 1st-time offenders: driving permitted up to 60 hours/week and 12 hours/day for specified times of the day, routes, and purposes Available immediately if BAC > .10 and after 30 days suspension if refuse test Not eligible if license suspended or revoked for another offense within 1 year	None
Fines and fees	$150 - 300; mandatory $150 (plus $345 surcharge)	$250 - 400 (mandatory $250); additional $250 - 500 for test refusal Fees: $100 for Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund; $100 for Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Fund; $1,000/year insurance surcharge for 3 years; $75 Safe Neighborhood Services Fund; $50 Violent Crimes Compensation Board
*Alcohol-Impaired Driving*	*Wisconsin*	*New Jersey*
Jail	None	Up to 30 days
Assessment/Treatment	Mandatory submission to an alcohol assessment and compliance with driver safety plan	For test refusal or DWI conviction, mandatory attendance at alcohol and highway safety education program at Intoxicated Driver Resource Center: 12 – 48 hours (must include 2 consecu-tive days of at least 6 hours each) and fee of $75/day
Ignition Interlock	No sanction provided	May be required for 6 months – 1 year after suspension completed; vehicle registration revocation may be substituted
*Driving While Suspended or Revoked*
Offense	Operating While Suspended/Revoked; no special penalties if suspension based on OWI offense	Driving While Suspended/Revoked for DWI
Jail	None for Operating While Suspended; < 1 year for Operating While Revoked	10 – 90 days
Fine	Fine not mandatory: Driving While Suspended $50-250; Driving While Revoked up to $2,500	Minimum fine $500; $250/year insurance surcharge for 3 years
License Suspension	< 6 months at court’s discretion	Additional 1 – 2 year suspension; mandatory 1 year
Vehicle Sanction	Offender’s vehicle may be impounded, with length of impoundment determined by court	Revocation of registration of all vehicles for same period as license suspension; may issue temporary registration/tags so that others can use vehicle for employment, educational, health, medical purposes

In Wisconsin, first-time OWI offenders are eligible for an occupational license if their license has not been suspended or revoked for another offense within the past year. The occupational license is available immediately after the administrative or court suspension takes effect (whichever comes first) to persons who fail the BAC test, and after 30 days hard suspension for persons who refuse the test. To obtain an occupational license, an offender must pay a $40 fee and show proof of financial responsibility, which can include proof of insurance, a bond, or a cash deposit.

After the end of the suspension or revocation period, a $50 fee is required for license reinstatement. Persons who refuse the BAC test must show proof of financial responsibility to reinstate the license; this is not required of other offenders. Liability insurance is not mandatory for Wisconsin drivers.

Wisconsin does not impose special sanctions for driving while suspended or revoked based on an OWI. The first offense of driving while suspended or driving while revoked is a civil offense, and there are no mandatory minimum penalties. Persons found to be in violation of restrictions on an occupational license, such as time or place of travel, may be cited for operating while suspended or revoked.