Bill to Close 72-hour No-contact Loophole Introduced

Law would prevent perpetrators from contacting victims without their permission during the “cooling off period.”

Under Wisconsin law, domestic violence offenders may not contact the victim within 72 hours of arrest, unless the victim consents to contact in writing.

Currently, Wisconsin law contains a loophole that allows offenders to violate the 72-hour no-contact condition with relative impunity.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch has introduced a bill to close this loophole and treat violations of the conditional release the same as violations of bond conditions.

Contact your state legislators [1] and tell them to, “co-sponsor LRB-0403, being circulated by Rep. Joel Kleefisch.”

Talking Points:

• The bill closes a loophole which allows domestic abusers to repeatedly contact victims without facing serious consequences.
• Under current law, abusers have little incentive to respect the no-contact condition, putting victims and responding officers at risk.