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

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 in May 2023 that "the plain and ordinary meaning of 'separate occasions' does not refer solely to the number of convictions" in consideration of whether lifetime registration is required for an offender.

"It is undisputable that all sex offenses covered by the sex offender registration statutory scheme are heinous in nature, thus necessitating the use of the registry for the protection of the public. However, within that scheme, the legislature, not this court, made policy decisions regarding which offenders are categorically required to comply with registration requirements for life and which are required to comply for 15 years," Justice Jill Karofsky wrote in the majority decision.

The case involved Corey T. Rector, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to five counts of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision on each of the five counts, to be served concurrently, and was ordered to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

The case made its way to the state's high court after the state Department of Corrections requested in 2019 that Rector's sex offender status be changed to a lifetime registration because he had been convicted of more than two sex offenses, relying on a formal opinion issued in 2017 by Republican then-Attorney General Brad Schimel.

Schimel issued the opinion in response to a request from then-DOC Secretary Jon Litscher, who had asked whether the state's "special bulletin notification" statute applied to offenders with multiple criminal convictions that occurred at the same time or stemmed from the same criminal complaint.

State law requires people who are convicted of a sex offense (or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect) on two or more separate occasions to be classified as "special bulletin notification" (SBN) offenders, who trigger notification of law enforcement when they change addresses. These offenders are subject to lifetime GPS monitoring.

Schimel's opinion was that "separate occasions" referred to the number of convictions, "including multiple convictions imposed at the same time and based on the same complaint."

Evers' signature codifies Schimel's interpretation in state law, negating the court's 2023 ruling. It will apply retroactively, and offenders who were previously released from the registry will be notified that they must re-register.

The bill's opponents included a number of prison reform groups and the State Public Defender's office.

The agency's legislative liaison, Adam Plotkin, argued judges should have the discretion to determine whether an offender should be required to register for 15 years or for the rest of their life.

In testimony before a Senate committee last month, Plotkin noted that malfunctioning devices or poor cellular service expose offenders to potential felony charges for removal or tampering with a GPS tracker, and argued the policy would ultimately reduce the public safety benefit of registration and monitoring.

"If everyone is considered a risk to the point of lifetime monitoring, it dilutes the efficacy of tracking those that a court determined are of higher risk based on the individual facts of that case," he said.

The proposal was drafted in consultation with the Department of Corrections, whose legislative adviser Anna Neal testified that the agency was concerned the Supreme Court's Rector ruling "is not reflective of communities' and law enforcement's expectations regarding notice and monitoring of sex offender registrants."

"The Rector decision may limit or reduce the notifications law enforcement agencies receive from the Department regarding the release of individuals who have been convicted of multiple counts and the Department's ability to require GPS tracking of these individuals," Neal said.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.