Motor Vehicles – OWI — extended supervision

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Criminal

Motor Vehicles – OWI — extended supervision

A court cannot order that a defendant not operate a motor vehicle as a condition of extended supervision.

“By definition, ‘operating privilege’ does not mean just the physical license document. Rather, it ‘means, in the case of a person who is licensed under ch. 343, the license, including every … authorization to operate vehicles of specific vehicle classes …; [and] in the case of a resident … who is not so licensed, it means the privilege to secure a license under ch. 343 ….’ WIS. STAT. §340.01(40) (emphasis added). The legislature then defined ‘Operator’s license,’ which ‘means the authorization granted to a person by this state … to operate a motor vehicle, including a driver’s license….’ WIS. STAT. §340.01(41g) (emphasis added). The special statutory definition of ‘operating privilege’—the state-granted authorization to operate a vehicle—is entirely consistent with a common meaning of the term privilege: a granted right. Thus, it is apparent that the WIS. STAT. §343.30(5) limitation on courts suspending or revoking operating privileges precludes not only restrictions on obtaining a physical license document, but also on the privilege to operate a vehicle.”

Affirmed in part, and Reversed in part.

Recommended for publication in the official reports.

2013AP1457-CR State v. Hoppe

Dist. III, Outagamie County, McGinnis, J., Hoover, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Lang, Donald T., Madison; For Respondent: Sanders, Michael C., Madison; Schneider, Carrie A., Appleton