Senate bill could raise cost of cases against state

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Individuals filing cases against the state of Wisconsin could now have their arguments heard by the judge of their choice, according to a Senate bill approved by the governing body’s judiciary committee Tuesday.

Senate Bill 117 would allow plaintiffs — who file cases where the lone defendant is the state or one of its boards or employees — to choose which county the case would be heard. The bill was approved by Republicans along a 3-2 party-line vote during the Judiciary, Utilities, Commerce and Government Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Currently, state law requires individuals to file cases against the state in Dane County where the state’s legislature, agencies and many employees are based.

Committee Chairman Rich Zipperer, R-Pewaukee, said the measure allows citizens to present their cases against the state to judges they were able to vote for, rather than being restricted to Dane County.

“I think the concern that has been raised is that one county, and the voters of one county, and the judges of one county, are under current law put in position that the voters and judges in the rest of the state are not allowed to have,” Zipperer said.

State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said the legislation could open the state to an exorbitant amount of fees related to transporting witnesses and evidence to a county of the plaintiff’s choice.

“For the plaintiff to pick out any of the 72 counties makes absolutely no sense whatsoever,” Risser said. “It’s incomprehensible.”

Fiscal estimates regarding the bill’s effects were not available to the committee prior to its vote.