Evers signs bill to expand stalking definition to include contacting victims by text or online

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Gov. Tony Evers has signed a bill to extend the definition of stalking in Wisconsin state statute to include victims who are contacted by text or online.

Senate Bill 85, now known as Wisconsin Act 28, adds contact with a victim by text messages, electronic messages, emails or electronic communications to the ways in which a person can be stalked. Causing a device to ring or notify someone repeatedly or continuously is also considered stalking under the amended statute.

The act also modifies the definition of “course of conduct” for stalking to include sending physical or electronic material to the victim’s family or household, employers, coworkers or friends.

Previously, the crime of stalking included maintaining visual or physical proximity to a victim, approaching a victim and attempting contact by phone or mail. Stalking is a Class I felony with a penalty of a fine of as much as $10,000, imprisonment for up to three years and six months, or both.

The bill was one of three bipartisan proposals signed by Evers on Friday. He also vetoed two bills related to COVID-19. One proposal was meant to prohibit the Department of Health Services from requiring people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and the other would prevent local health officers from taking action to close or forbid gatherings in places of worship to control the spread of the virus. Evers said he objected to taking away tools available to public health officials to prevent and suppress COVID-19. Follow @WLJReporter