Wisconsin Senate Bill SB1134

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/19/26
• Refer: 3/19/26
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to renumber and amend 973.195 (1r) (b) 3. and 973.195 (1r) (g) 1.; to amend 973.195 (1r) (h) 2.; to create 973.195 (1r) (b) 3. b. and 973.195 (1r) (g) 1. b. of the statutes; Relating to: criminal sentence adjustment due to sentencing.

Summary

SB1134 would expand Wisconsin’s sentence-adjustment procedure for certain inmates serving bifurcated sentences. Under current law, an inmate may petition the sentencing court for a sentence adjustment when a later change in sentencing or revocation law would have produced a shorter prison term, subject to eligibility thresholds and prosecutorial objection. This bill adds a new basis for petitioning when a later change in law or procedure would have resulted in a shorter term of extended supervision, not just a shorter prison term. The bill also changes how courts must structure any adjustment. If a court reduces the confinement portion of a sentence because of a qualifying change in law or procedure, it must also reduce the extended supervision portion so that the supervision term does not exceed the maximum term the offender could have received under the later law, or the maximum term in effect when the petition was filed, whichever is shorter. In effect, the bill gives courts explicit authority to reduce extended supervision and requires that any corresponding supervision term stay within the applicable statutory ceiling.

Impact

SB1134 would amend Wisconsin Statutes section 973.195, which governs petitions for sentence adjustment based on changes in sentencing or revocation law. It broadens the grounds for relief, adds a new category for shorter extended supervision terms, and makes the reduction of extended supervision mandatory in certain adjustment cases. The bill affects inmates serving eligible bifurcated sentences, sentencing courts, and district attorneys who receive notice of petitions and may object.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee testimony or recorded votes, so there is no documented public debate in the materials provided. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to be a targeted procedural change aimed at aligning older sentences with later legal changes, rather than a broad criminal justice overhaul. The bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.

Contention

The main policy issue is whether inmates should be able to seek sentence adjustments not only when later law would have shortened prison confinement, but also when it would have shortened extended supervision. Another point of potential contention is the bill’s requirement that courts reduce extended supervision when reducing confinement, which could be viewed as expanding postconviction relief for inmates while also limiting judicial discretion in how sentence adjustments are structured. Prosecutors and crime-victim advocates might be expected to scrutinize any expansion of eligibility, while reform advocates would likely support the added avenue for relief.