Date of enactment: March 27, 2024
2023 Assembly Bill 556 Date of publication*: March 28, 2024
2023 WISCONSIN ACT 231
AN ACT to create 971.106 and 971.108 of the statutes; relating to: expediting criminal proceedings when a victim
or witness is an elder person and preserving the testimony of a crime victim or witness who is an elder person.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 971.106 of the statutes is created to read:
971.106 Elder person victims and witnesses; duty
to expedite proceedings. (1) In this section, “elder per-
son” means any individual who is 60 years of age or older.
(2) In all criminal and delinquency cases and juvenile
dispositional hearings involving a victim or witness who
is an elder person, the court and the district attorney shall
take appropriate action to ensure a speedy trial in order
to minimize the length of time the elder person must
endure the stress of the elder person’s involvement in the
proceeding. In ruling on any motion or other request for
a delay or continuance of proceedings, the court shall
consider and give weight to any adverse impact the delay
or continuance may have on the well−being of a victim
or witness who is an elder person.
SECTION 2. 971.108 of the statutes is created to read:
971.108 Elder person victims and witnesses; duty
to preserve testimony. (1) In this section, “elder per-
son” means any individual who is 60 years of age or older.
(2) In all criminal and delinquency cases and juvenile
dispositional hearings involving a crime victim or wit-
ness who is an elder person, the district attorney may file
a motion to preserve the testimony of the crime victim or
witness. If the court finds good cause to do so, the court
shall conduct a hearing within 60 days of the date the
motion was filed to preserve the testimony of the crime
victim or witness. The hearing shall be before the court.
The defendant shall be present at the hearing. The crime
victim or witness shall be sworn as a witness and shall be
subject to cross−examination and rebuttal if not unduly
repetitious. The witness may testify in person, or, upon
a showing by the proponent of good cause under s. 807.13
(2) (c), testimony may be received into the record of the
hearing by telephone or live audiovisual means. The
hearing shall be recorded, and the recorded testimony of
the witness shall be admissible in evidence in any court
proceeding in the case.
* 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.”