Date of enactment: December 6, 2023
2023 Assembly Bill 36 Date of publication*: December 7, 2023
2023 WISCONSIN ACT 58
AN ACT to consolidate, renumber and amend 165.775 (4) (intro.) and (b); to amend 165.775 (3) (b) and 165.775
(4) (a); and to create 165.775 (4) (b) 2. of the statutes; relating to: a time limit for processing sexual assault kits.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 165.775 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended
to read:
165.775 (3) (b) Except as provided in par. (c), within
14 days after taking possession of the sexual assault kit,
send the sexual assault kit to the state crime laboratories
for processing in accordance with the procedures speci-
fied in the rules promulgated under sub. (6) within 14
days after taking possession of the sexual assault kit sub.
(4) (b).
SECTION 2. 165.775 (4) (intro.) and (b) of the statutes
are consolidated, renumbered 165.775 (4) (b) (intro.) and
amended to read:
165.775 (4) (b) (intro.) If Except as provided in par.
(a), if the state crime laboratories takes possession of a
sexual assault kit, it shall do all of the following: (b) If
the state crime laboratories shall begin processing the kit
in accordance with the procedures specified in the rules
promulgated under sub. (6) and shall complete process-
ing the kit within 6 months after the state crime laborato-
ries receives it, except that the state crime laboratories
shall begin processing the kit within 5 business days of
taking possession and shall complete processing the kit
within 60 calendar days after the processing has begun if
any of the following applies:
1. The victim chooses to report the sexual assault to
a Wisconsin law enforcement agency and thus has con-
sented to, the identity of the person who perpetrated the
sexual assault is unknown, and there is a threat to public
safety. For purposes of this subsection, a victim’s report
to a law enforcement agency shall be considered consent
for the analysis of his or her sexual assault kit, process the
kit in accordance with the procedures specified in the
rules promulgated under sub. (6).
SECTION 3. 165.775 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended
to read:
165.775 (4) (a) If the state crime laboratories takes
possession of a sexual assault kit and the victim chooses
not to report the sexual assault to a Wisconsin law
enforcement agency and thus has not consented to the
analysis of his or her sexual assault kit, , the state crime
laboratories shall securely store the sexual assault kit for
a period of 10 years, during which time the sexual assault
victim may choose to report the assault to a Wisconsin
law enforcement agency.
SECTION 4. 165.775 (4) (b) 2. of the statutes is created
to read:
165.775 (4) (b) 2. The sexual assault kit contains evi-
dence collected from a sexual assault forensic examina-
tion that was performed as part of an investigation of a
* Section 991.11, WISCONSIN STATUTES: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor’s
partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 58 2023 Assembly Bill 36
death that involves unexplained, unusual, or suspicious
circumstances, as determined by a law enforcement
agency.
SECTION 5.0Effective date.
(1) This act takes effect on the first day of the 7th
month beginning after publication.