Date of enactment:
2023 Senate Bill 916 Date of publication*:
2023 WISCONSIN ACT
AN ACT to create 66.0443 of the statutes; relating to: requiring local governments to designate an individual for
consultation required under a federal program regarding refugee resettlement and assistance.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 66.0443 of the statutes is created to read:
66.0443 Local consultation for refugee resettle-
ment and assistance. (1) In this section:
(a) “Chief elected official” means the mayor of a city
or, if the city is organized under subch. I of ch. 64, the
president of the council of that city, the village president
of a village, the town board chairperson of a town, the
chairperson of the county board of supervisors, or the
chairperson of a school board.
(b) “Committee” means a county refugee resettle-
ment committee organized under sub. (5).
(c) “Designee” means a person designated under sub.
(4) (b) by a local governmental unit.
(d) “Local governmental unit” means a city, village,
town, county, or school district.
(e) “Private nonprofit voluntary agency” means an
organization that participates in the federal reception and
placement program under a cooperative agreement with
the federal department of state to sponsor and provide
assistance and support to refugees upon arrival in the
United States.
(2) If any employee or officer of a local governmental
unit contacts or is contacted by the federal government or
a private nonprofit voluntary agency acting under 8 USC
1522 regarding the proposed placement of refugees, as
defined in 8 USC 1101 (a) (42), in the local governmental
unit under 8 USC 1522, within 7 business days of the ini-
tial contact, the employee or officer shall submit a written
report on the contact, including copies of any documenta-
tion received, to the chief elected official and clerk of the
local governmental unit.
(3) Within 10 business days of receiving a report
under sub. (2), a chief elected official shall provide a writ-
ten notification of the contact to the chief elected official
and clerk of each local governmental unit located,
entirely or partially, within a 100−mile radius of the
office of the clerk for the local governmental unit provid-
ing the notice under this subsection.
(4) Within 30 days of receiving notification under
sub. (3), the governing body of each local governmental
unit receiving notification under sub. (3) shall meet and
do all of the following:
(a) Include on the meeting agenda an informational
item that the notification under sub. (3) has been received
and allow for a public comment on the item.
(b) Designate, by a majority vote of a quorum of the
governing body, an employee or officer of the local gov-
ernmental unit to serve as the representative for the local
governmental unit for purposes of consultation with the
federal government or a private nonprofit voluntary
agency regarding refugee resettlement and assistance as
set forth under 8 USC 1522. The clerk of the local gov-
* 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 2023 Senate Bill 916
ernmental unit shall notify the county board chairperson
and clerk for the county in which the local governmental
unit is located of the designation under this paragraph.
(5) Not sooner than 30 days, nor later than 45 days,
after receiving a notification under sub. (3), upon the call
of the county board chairperson, each designee in the
county with regard to a report under sub. (2) shall meet
to discuss the proposed placement of refugees regarding
which the report was made. The county board chairper-
son shall ensure that representatives of the federal gov-
ernment or private nonprofit voluntary agency involved
in the contact under sub. (2) are invited to the meeting.
Upon commencement of the meeting under this subsec-
tion, the designees constitute a county refugee resettle-
ment committee. The county is responsible for all costs
of the committee.
(6) Within 30 days of the initial committee meeting
under sub. (5), the committee shall hold a public hearing
regarding the proposed placement of refugees regarding
which the report under sub. (2) was made. Notice of the
hearing shall be given by publishing in a newspaper or
newspapers having general circulation within the terri-
tory within a 100−mile radius of the office of the clerk for
the local governmental unit to whom the report under
sub. (2) was made as a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, a
summary of the proposal and notice of the place where
the proposal, the written report submitted to the chief
elected official under sub. (2), and any documentation
submitted with the report are available for public inspec-
tion, and notice of the time and place for holding the pub-
lic hearing thereon in the local governmental unit at least
15 days prior to the time of the public hearing. Posting
may not be substituted for publication under this subsec-
tion. Notice of the hearing shall also be given at least 10
days before the meeting by communication from the
committee to those news media who have filed a written
request for notice of all meetings of any local govern-
mental unit that received a notification under sub. (3),
and to the official newspaper designated under ss.
985.04, 985.05, and 985.06 of any local governmental
unit that received a notification under sub. (3) or, if none
exists, to a news medium likely to give notice in the area.
(7) Once a public hearing has been held under sub.
(6), the committee shall make a recommendation to the
governing body of the local governmental unit on
whether the body should pass a resolution regarding its
position on the proposed refugee placement.
(8) The committee shall provide each designee with
guidance on all considerations that should be included as
part of the consultation under 8 USC 1522, including
consideration of potential impacts on the local agencies
and the timeline related to any placement of refugees
with regard to which the report under sub. (2) was made.
Designees shall communicate all considerations pro-
vided by the committee to the relevant parties involved
in consultation under 8 USC 1522.
(9) Once a plan relating to the proposed refugee
placement under this section has been established after
consultation under 8 USC 1522, each designee shall sub-
mit within 7 business days a written report on the plan to
the local governmental unit for which the designee is a
representative.