Evers signs bills promoting public safety, support crime victims

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Gov. Tony Evers signed 10 bills Thursday to promote public safety and support crime victims, survivors, and their families. The signing comes after an announcement earlier this week from Evers for a more than $50 million investment in community safety across the state, including nearly $19 million for local and tribal law enforcement agencies and funding to help alleviate the pandemic-related backlog of criminal cases through additional public defender and assistant district attorney support.

Included in the newly signed bills is Senate Bill 199, now 2021 Wisconsin Act 188, which makes sexual contact or intercourse by a law enforcement officer with a person detained or in custody second-degree sexual assault in order to create consistency with current law sections for similar conduct by correctional and probation officers.

Evers also signed various Assembly Bills including 329, now 2021 Wisconsin Act 183, requiring the Department of Justice to collect certain information on search warrants and issue an annual report, specifically as it relates to no-knock entry in the execution of a search warrant.

A full list of Senate and Assembly Bills signed can be found here.