Wisconsin Senate Bill Targets Voided Implied Consent Laws

Overview

Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced Senate Bill 845 to purge provisions from state statutes that courts previously invalidated under the Fourth Amendment. Sponsored by Senator Jesse James alongside a bicameral group of Republican legislators, the legislation cleans up language governing chemical tests for motor vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, and snowmobiles. Decades of judicial precedent, including landmark decisions by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, rendered multiple parts of Wisconsin's implied consent statutes unenforceable.

The bill targets statutory text that permitted law enforcement officers to draw blood from incapacitated drivers without a search warrant. By officially repealing these sections, the legislature ensures the statute books reflect actual constitutional limits.

Key Provisions

• Repeal of unconscious driver blood draws: Strips language in Section 343.305(3)(b) that authorized warrantless blood tests on unconscious or incapacitated motorists suspected of operating while intoxicated.

• Recreational vehicle alignment: Removes matching warrantless testing provisions across statutes governing all-terrain vehicles, utility terrain vehicles, motorboats, and snowmobiles.

• Arrest precondition updates: Amends chemical testing procedures to clarify when officers may lawfully request an evidentiary chemical test without relying on invalidated statutory mechanisms.

• Statutory conformity: Revises penalty cross-references and procedural notices given to operators facing chemical test requests, ensuring uniform compliance with judicial rulings.

Impact on Drivers

This legislation does not create new defenses or grant drivers immunity from OWI prosecution. Instead, it prevents confusion between what state statutes explicitly say and what constitutional law permits. Under current constitutional precedent, police officers must secure a search warrant to draw blood from an unconscious driver unless specific emergency circumstances exist.

Motorists and recreational vehicle operators face the exact same evidentiary standards on the road today as they will if SB845 becomes law. The primary impact falls on legal clarity. Drivers and defense attorneys will no longer encounter statutory text that conflicts directly with binding judicial opinions.

Current Law vs Proposed Changes

• Current: Wisconsin implied consent statutes still contain language authorizing blood draws from incapacitated operators without a warrant, despite court rulings declaring those provisions unconstitutional.

• Proposed: SB845 formally deletes these unconstitutional clauses from motor vehicle, boating, ATV, and snowmobile statutes to align the written law with current constitutional standards.

What This Means For You

If you are pulled over or involved in an accident, law enforcement officers must respect constitutional warrant requirements before conducting an involuntary blood draw. A driver who is conscious still faces statutory penalties, including immediate license revocation, for refusing a lawful breath or blood test.

Do not assume that repealing unconstitutional text weakens Wisconsin's strict OWI enforcement. Officers regularly obtain electronic search warrants within minutes from on-call judges. If an officer secures a warrant, medical personnel will conduct the blood draw regardless of whether the driver consents.

Source: Official WI legislative records. Consult a licensed attorney for legal advice.