Tag: Wisconsin

WI: Sex offenders who are homeless would have to wear GPS monitors under Republican bill

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Source: wpr.org 12/22/25 Legislation comes as 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals considers constitutionality of Wisconsin’s GPS requirement for repeat sex offenders   Several Republican legislators say they want to close a “gap” in the state’s sex offender registry law they contend leaves communities in the dark about the whereabouts of convicted offenders who are homeless. The bill would require any registered sex offender in Wisconsin to wear a GPS ankle monitor unless they can provide a permanent address. In prepared remarks before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, state…

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WI: Convicted sex offenders challenge Wisconsin’s lifetime GPS tracking at Seventh Circuit

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Source: courthousenews.com 12/16/25 A class of convicted sex offenders in Wisconsin say the state’s ankle monitor requirement for repeat offenders infringes on their Fourth Amendment rights.   CHICAGO (CN) — A class of convicted sex offenders in Wisconsin maintained to a Seventh Circuit panel Tuesday that the state’s lifetime GPS monitoring requirement runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections requires all repeat sex offenders (those who’ve been convicted two or more times) to wear an ankle monitor for life unless they move out of the state…

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WI: Amber Alert cancelled for Ruby Lehmann, suspect in custody

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Source: wisn.com 9/13/25 Authorities have cancelled the Amber Alert for 6-year-old Ruby Lehmann on Sept. 13, just before 6 p.m. Lehmann is safe, according to the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and the suspect, Jordan Coyle, is in custody. The Amber Alert for Lehmann went out Thursday, after she went missing from her grandmother’s house in Almond, Wisconsin. Officials in Portage County believed Ruby was with Jordan ______, 34. Jordan is a registered sex offender. Family told law enforcement he’s the girl’s uncle. According to the Portage County Sheriff’s Office on…

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WI: Convicted Sex Offender’s Appeal Prompts Ordinance Change

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Source: doorcountypulse.com 8/7/25 Following an appeal from a convicted sex offender, the Village of Forestville is revising an ordinance related to the distance convicted sex offenders may reside from “where children are known to congregate.” The village’s ordinance, adopted in December 2007, prohibits a convicted sex offender from living within 2,500 feet of any school, licensed day care center, park, trail, playground, place of worship or library. Village President Terry McNulty said the state’s sex offender registry showed a convicted sex offender who moved to the village lived around 400…

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WI: Possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery may be protected by First Amendment in some cases, judge rules

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Source: nbcnews.com 3/18/25 In February, a district judge tossed out a charge against a Wisconsin man of possession of the obscene material but allowed other charges to move forward Federal prosecutors are appealing a federal judge’s ruling in Wisconsin that possessing child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence is in some situations protected by the Constitution. The order and the subsequent appeal could have major implications for the future legal treatment of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, which has been a top concern among child safety advocates…

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WI: Meeting set on sex offender relocating to Town of Cottage Grove

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Source: hngnews.com 1/8/24 [ACSOL is posting this to show the false statements and assumptions of their law enforcement] The Dane County Sheriff’s Office has scheduled a community meeting to inform the public about a sex offender moving into the Town of Cottage Grove. The virtual meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. … Jackie, 57, was convicted in 1988 of First Degree Sexual Assault and is a lifetime registrant.   …   The Sheriff’s Office said the aim of releasing this information was not to increase fear, but…

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WI: Glendale likely to challenge plan that would house sex offenders near child areas

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Source: jsonline.com 12/7/24   The City of Glendale, Wisconsin is challenging a plan that would house two sex offenders in Milwaukee, right near Glendale’s border and near several places children often visit. At the city’s Dec. 9 Common Council meeting, officials will vote on whether to approve a resolution that would seek the plan’s reversal. The two offenders were both convicted in 1989, one for first-degree sexual assault and the other for second-degree sexual assault. The proposed resolution invokes a Glendale ordinance prohibiting convicted sex offenders from living within 1,200 feet of specified places…

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WI: Washington Co. challenging placement of violent sex offender in Town of Trenton

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Source: washingtoncountyinsider.com 6/8/24 The chairman in the Town of Trenton is speaking out about steps being taken to proactively protect the people in his community as Washington County officials have been notified about the possible placement of a violent sex offender. Mike Lipscomb was notified by the Washington County Sheriff prior to the news being released that Outagamie County was looking to place a violent sex offender in a group home in the Town of Trenton. Lipscomb, Sheriff Martin Schulteis and the county attorney jumped into action in an effort…

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WI: Seventh Circuit considers challenges to Wisconsin sex offender laws

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Source: courthousenews.com 4/18/24 One case challenged who gets defined as a sex offender, while another raised questions about where sex offenders can feasibly live while on supervised release.   MADISON, Wis. (CN) — The Badger State’s sex offender laws faced scrutiny on Thursday, with a Seventh Circuit panel hearing back-to-back arguments against them in the state capital. The first two cases of the day were brought by people listed on the Wisconsin sex offender registry. Plaintiffs in both cases argued — through the same attorney but for very different reasons…

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WI: Gov. Tony Evers signs law requiring more sex offenders to be placed on registry for life

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Source: jsonline.com 4/2/24 MADISON – Wisconsinites convicted of multiple counts of a sex offense will be required to register as sex offenders for life even if the counts were part of the same incident, under a bill signed by Gov. Tony Evers. The law effectively nullifies a 2023 state Supreme Court ruling holding that multiple convictions stemming from the same criminal complaint do not necessarily classify someone as a repeat offender. The governor’s signature brings resolution to a question officials have debated for years. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled…

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WI: At least 30 registered sex offenders live in WI nursing homes, records show

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Source: wisn.com 2/22/24 When a family decides to admit their loved one to a nursing home, there is an implied level of trust the facility and its staff will keep that individual safe. … Wisconsin law does not require nursing home leadership to notify staff, residents or their families a registered sex offender lives on the property. “That facility is going to address those issues on a case-by-case basis,” Wisconsin Healthcare Association CEO Rick Abrams said. “If notification is appropriate, I have great confidence that they will do that. But…

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WI Action Alert: Fight SB874 that would put many people back on lifetime GPS registration

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Source: docs.legis.wisconsin.gov Call to action for Wisconsin registrants… Last year the high court in Wisconsin struck down former AG’s interpretation that multiple counts on the same case constituted multiple convictions for the purpose of registration and GPS monitoring. A bill was introduced last week that if passed would codify the former AG’s interpretation and put many people back on lifetime GPS registration. The bill is retroactive and seems like it will actually put more people on GPS monitoring than even before. The original statue would have required lifetime GPS monitoring…

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WI: Wisconsin slow to take GPS bracelets off ex-cons, despite ruling

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Source: captimes.com 11/7/23 The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has been slow to release hundreds of people from GPS monitors it forced them to wear for life — long after they completed their sentences for sex offenses — in the five months since a state Supreme Court ruling challenged the practice. That’s according to multiple sources including former offenders, who told the Cap Times the Department of Corrections is not following the spirit of the Supreme Court decision or its own statements after the ruling in May. The Department of Corrections…

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WI: Investigation into alleged circulation of child porn among students

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Source: TMJ4 News A search warrant says a Nicolet High School student told a school resource officer two weeks ago that, “A video depicting two other Nicolet students engaging in sexual acts had been posted online.” GLENDALE, Wis. — Glendale police are investigating alleged child pornography being circulated among students at Nicolet High School. A search warrant says a Nicolet High School student told a school resource officer two weeks ago that, “A video depicting two other Nicolet students engaging in sexual acts had been posted online via Instagram.” Court…

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UPDATED 8/21/23: Corrections to the Paris, Wisconsin 6,500 Feet Residency Restriction by the 7th Circuit

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UPDATED Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 8/21/23 Attorneys with the Paris case (6500-foot residence restriction) have contacted us [Florida Action Committee] to correct misstatements that were made in our most recent post.  They let us know there is much to be optimistic about in the court’s decision as they are putting some brakes on municipal ordinances that have spiraled out of control in Wisconsin – something they have never done before. We should not be reading this decision as countenancing 6500-foot zones more generally.  Attorney Adele Nicholas will be continuing to fight these…

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WI: Wisconsin releases sex offenders from GPS bracelets after court ruling

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Source: captimes.com 8/8/23 The state Department of Corrections has begun releasing certain sex offenders from lifetime GPS tracking after a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision undermined the agency’s justification for keeping people on electronic monitoring beyond their sentences. The department confirmed to the Cap Times that it is in the process of identifying everyone who was forced to wear the GPS devices for the rest of their lives as the result of a now-debunked interpretation of state statute by former Attorney General Brad Schimel. As of Tuesday, it remained unknown precisely…

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WI: Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling gives hope to offenders on lifetime GPS

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Source: captimes.com 7/3/23 Benjamin Braam has already decided a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling means he can stop recharging an electronic tracking bracelet the state forced him to wear for the rest of his life. The high court’s decision involved a case unrelated to Braam, but it shot down the rationale that former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel used to justify the lifetime monitoring of one-time sexual offenders even after they completed their sentences and were no longer under court-ordered supervision. Authorities from the state Department of Corrections “called me…

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