Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 301 - Corrections.
301.21 - Contracts for the transfer and confinement of Wisconsin prisoners in other states.

301.21 Contracts for the transfer and confinement of Wisconsin prisoners in other states.
(1m)
(a) The department may enter into one or more contracts with another state or a political subdivision of another state for the transfer and confinement in that state of prisoners who have been committed to the custody of the department. Any such contract shall provide for all of the following:
1. A termination date.
2. Provisions concerning the costs of prisoner maintenance, extraordinary medical and dental expenses and any participation in or receipt by inmates of rehabilitative or correctional services, facilities, programs or treatment, including those costs not reasonably included as part of normal maintenance.
3. Provisions concerning any participation in programs of inmate employment if any, the disposition or crediting of any payments received by inmates on account of employment, and the crediting of proceeds from or disposal of any products resulting from employment.
4. Delivery and retaking of inmates.
5. Waiver of extradition by Wisconsin and the state to which the prisoners are transferred.
6. Retention of jurisdiction of the prisoners transferred by Wisconsin.
7. Regular reporting procedures concerning Wisconsin prisoners by officials of the state or political subdivision with which the department is contracting.
8. Provisions concerning procedures for probation, parole, extended supervision and discharge.
9. The same standards of reasonable and humane care as the prisoners would receive in an appropriate Wisconsin institution.
10. Any other matters as are necessary and appropriate to fix the obligations, responsibilities and rights of Wisconsin and the state or political subdivision with which the department is contracting.
(b) Inmates from Wisconsin state prisons while in an institution in another state are subject to all provisions of law and regulation concerning the confinement of persons committed for violations of the laws of that state, except as otherwise provided for by any contract entered into under this subsection.
(c) Any hearing to consider parole to which an inmate confined under this contract may be entitled by the laws of Wisconsin will be conducted by the Wisconsin parole commission under rules of the department.
(d) Sections 16.75 and 301.08 (2) do not apply to contracts entered into under this subsection.
(e) The provisions of this subsection are severable, as provided in s. 990.001 (11). The provisions of any contract entered into under this subsection are severable. If any provision of such a contract is invalid, or if the application of a provision of the contract to any person or circumstance is invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
(2m)
(a) The department may enter into one or more contracts with a private person for the transfer and confinement in another state of prisoners who have been committed to the custody of the department. Any such contract shall provide for all of the following:
1. A termination date.
2. Provisions concerning the costs of prisoner maintenance, extraordinary medical and dental expenses and any participation in or receipt by prisoners of rehabilitative or correctional services, facilities, programs or treatment, including those costs not reasonably included as part of normal maintenance.
3. Provisions concerning any participation in programs of prisoner employment if any, the disposition or crediting of any payments received by prisoners on account of employment, and the crediting of proceeds from or disposal of any products resulting from employment.
4. Delivery and retaking of prisoners.
5. Regular reporting procedures concerning Wisconsin prisoners by the private person with which the department is contracting.
6. Provisions concerning procedures for probation, parole, extended supervision and discharge.
7. The same standards of reasonable and humane care as the prisoners would receive in an appropriate Wisconsin institution.
8. Any other matters as are necessary and appropriate to fix the obligations, responsibilities and rights of Wisconsin and the private person with which the department is contracting.
(b) While in an institution in another state covered by a contract under this subsection, Wisconsin prisoners are subject to all provisions of law and regulation concerning the confinement of persons in that institution under the laws of that state.
(c) Any hearing to consider parole to which a prisoner confined under a contract under this subsection may be entitled by the laws of Wisconsin shall be conducted by the Wisconsin parole commission under rules of the department.
(e) The provisions of any contract entered into under this subsection are severable. If any provision of such a contract is invalid, or if the application of a provision of the contract to any person or circumstance is invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
(6) Contracts under this section are subject to approval under s. 302.26, except that for purposes of s. 302.26 this section constitutes legislative approval of contracts between the department and the state of Minnesota.
History: 1981 c. 20; 1983 a. 27; 1989 a. 31 s. 965; Stats. 1989 s. 301.21; 1995 a. 344; 1997 a. 27, 283; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 38.
That this section does not, apart from the authority to contract for out-of-state placements, grant specific authority to transfer prisoners to out-of-state prisons does not mean that the Department of Corrections is without authority to so transfer prisoners without their consent. Prisoners do not have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in not being transferred from one prison to another. Evers v. Sullivan, 2000 WI App 144, 237 Wis. 2d 759, 615 N.W.2d 680, 00-0127.
The Department of Corrections has the authority under sub. (2m) to delegate to employees at a private correctional facility in another state the responsibility for conducting reviews and making recommendations on the security classifications and program assignments of Wisconsin prisoners incarcerated in that facility. State ex rel. Treat v. Puckett, 2002 WI App 58, 252 Wis. 2d 404, 643 N.W.2d 515, 00-2712.
The state is not required to use the extradition process whenever and wherever prisoners are transported through noncontracting states on their way to incarceration in a contracting state. State ex rel. Jones v. Smith, 2002 WI App 94, 253 Wis. 2d 712, 643 N.W.2d 548, 01-1673.
The reference to “provisions of law and regulation concerning the confinement of persons" in sub. (2m) (b) means the conditions of confinement and procedures used in the out-of-state institution. Sentence credit under the law of the state where the prison is located are not laws concerning confinement but are an element of that state's sentencing system and do not apply to a prisoner serving a Wisconsin sentence. State ex rel. Griffin v. Litscher, 2003 WI App 60, 261 Wis. 2d 694, 659 N.W.2d 455, 02-1704.
Transferring inmates from Wisconsin prisons to out-of-state facilities does not violate state law. Lambert v. Sullivan, 35 F. Supp. 2d 1131 (1999).
A prisoner has no liberty interest in avoiding transfer to any prison, whether within or without the state. Berdine v. Sullivan, 161 F. Supp. 2d 972 (2001).
A Wisconsin prisoner's income while imprisoned in an out-of-state institution is not subject to Department of Corrections rules, but instead is subject to the rules of the host state. Doty v. Doyle, 182 F. Supp. 2d 750 (2002).

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