Latest installment of the Public Safety Package protects state corrections agents and their families
MADISON, WI… State Sen. André Jacque (R-De Pere) today had another bill in his Public Safety Package signed into law, an initiative extending state legal protections to Wisconsin corrections agents and their families.
Sen. Jacque said he introduced the measure after hearing from current and former probation and parole agents like Amanda Holz, whose family was threatened by an incarcerated individual on a probation hold.
“The individual said he knew where her one-year-old daughter attended daycare,” Sen. Jacque said, adding, “Others received graphic written threats of promised violence toward their families or had weapons such as crossbows pointed at them by those they supervised.”
Sen. Jacque said Senate Bill 100, co-authored with Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh), would penalize intentional harm and threats to Department of Corrections (DOC) agents and their families, as well as Wisconsin’s equivalent tribal officials.
“While threats to judges, police officers, district attorneys or their family members carry a Class H felony, DOC agents are not afforded this same protection,” Sen. Jacque said. “This bill would remedy that dangerous inconsistency in the law.”
Sen. Jacque said this legislation has received support from stakeholders including the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the Oneida Nation, and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
“We all recognize that supervising individuals who have been convicted of committing crimes can be dangerous work,” Sen. Jacque said. “These offenders will now face the same penalties for threatening probation and parole agents and their families as they would for other officials in our public safety system.”
This legislation marks the latest installment of Sen. Jacque’s Public Safety Package signed into law; earlier, virtual court proceeding were enacted to speed justice to crime victims. Currently sitting on the Governor’s desk are bills which fund our police and exclude all violent crimes – such as child trafficking and abuse, arson, and armed burglar – from eligibility for early release.
“I hope Gov. Evers will sign these additional measures into law soon to protect our families at a time when crime is on the rise,” Sen. Jacque said.
Senator André Jacque represents Northeast Wisconsin’s First Senate District, consisting of Door and Kewaunee Counties and portions of Brown, Calumet, Manitowoc, and Outagamie counties.
