Wisconsin Statute 973.015 (1) states, "When a person under the age of 21 at the time of the commission of an offense for which the person has been found guilty in a court for violation of a law for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment for one year or less in the county jail, the court may order at the time of sentencing that the record be expunged upon successful completion of the sentence if the court determines the person will benefit and society will not be harmed by this disposition." The Supreme Court Decision, "In the Interest of E.C. 130 Wis. 2nd 376," has determined that s. 973.015 applies only to "court records" and the court states, "In sec. 973.015 (1), the legislature has determined that the only records which may be expunged are court records resulting from a misdemeanor conviction when the person was under the age of 21 at the time of the commission of the offense. In this situation, the court may expunge only the court records, and then, only if the court determines that the person will benefit and society will not be harmed by this disposition."
The case also discusses charges against juveniles and, in so doing, defines "expunction" in relationship to those charges as: "...that information regarding the charges against juveniles would be placed in a sealed envelope which would be kept in a separate, private location and could not be viewed by anyone except on order of the court.... Expunction does not require destruction of the juvenile records." This definition of expunction would logically apply to all records, not only those that are juvenile.
Consistent with this decision, the Crime Information Bureau (CIB) and local law enforcement agencies have no responsibilities with regard to s. 973.015. When the CIB receives notification of an adjudication consistent with s. 973.015, the record will be modified to indicate that the sentence was ordered under that particular statute. If the terms and conditions of s. 973.015 have been met, the record will indicate "successfully completed." If the subject was given probation or any other extended terms and conditions, a follow-up letter will be sent to the court indicating that the CIB is aware of the "special disposition" and requesting that the court notify the CIB of any status change. When the CIB receives follow-up information from the court, the record will be modified to indicate "successfully completed" or "special disposition revoked" as directed by the court. If the special disposition is revoked, the associated sentence will be appended to the record. State statutes do not allow CIB to remove arrests involving special dispositions under s. 973.015 from a person’s criminal record.
The computer currently flags any record that has a "special disposition" and when the date of any special terms is reached, that "flag" is removed prior to the release of the record. If an agency inquires on a record that has an adjudication under s. 973.015 and the term has been reached, the computer will route the inquiry to a clearinghouse terminal. If the date of the terms has been reached without any subsequent notification from the court, CIB will assume that the terms have been met and annotate the record with a "successfully completed" for release. If CIB receives notification after the fact that the terms were not "successfully completed", the Bureau will change the "successful completion" to "special disposition revoked" and append the associated sentence.
All Clerks of Court should be aware of the definition of "expunction" as clarified in this case. Records should be "sealed" and not destroyed to be in conformance with s. 973.015.