SB 15 Wisconsin Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Relating to: increased penalties for crimes against adults at risk; restraining orders for adults at risk; freezing assets of a defendant charged with financial exploitation of an adult at risk; sexual assault of an adult at risk; and providing a penalty.

SB 15 modifies penalty rules for crimes against vulnerable adults by distinguishing between "elder persons" (typically age 60+) and "adults at risk" (vulnerable due to disability or other factors). For elder victims, it eliminates the defense that a defendant didn’t know the victim’s age, automatically applying enhanced penalties. For "adults at risk," penalties only increase if the defendant actually knew the victim’s vulnerable status. The bill applies to crimes like assault, financial exploitation, and sexual assault, changing how courts assess penalties based on victim classification. It does not create new penalties but adjusts existing sentencing rules for these specific victim categories.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 5, 2025 Last action Mar 23, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
2
Committee
1
Amendments
3
Nov 14, 2025
Introduced
Senate Amendment 2 offered by Senator Jacque
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 7, Noes 1
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report adoption of Senate Amendment 1 recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 8, Noes 0
upper
Mar 11, 2025
Introduced
Senate Amendment 1 offered by Senator Jacque
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Introduced
Introduced by Senators Jacque and Carpenter; cosponsored by Representatives Kreibich, Behnke, Dittrich, Gundrum, Murphy, Mursau, Tusler, Wichgers, Allen, Donovan, Tenorio and Knodl
upper
2 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors