Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 303 - Prison labor.
303.01 - Prison industries.

303.01 Prison industries.
(1) Creation.
(a) In this subsection “manufacturing" includes reprocessing, repairing, salvaging, servicing and storing.
(b) The department, with the approval of the prison industries board and after a hearing is held under par. (c), may establish industries for the employment of inmates in the state prisons or residents in any correctional institution operated by the department for holding in secure custody persons adjudged delinquent. Except as provided in par. (d), prison industries may engage in manufacturing articles for and providing services to the state and its political subdivisions and any tax-supported institution or nonprofit agency and for sale of such articles and services to other states or political divisions thereof or to the United States. The department shall fix the price of all products and services as near the market price as possible. Supplies, materials and equipment may be reconditioned by prison industries for sale under s. 16.72.
(c) Prior to establishing any prison industry, the department shall provide written notification of its proposed action to the cochairpersons of the joint committee on finance. The cochairpersons shall hold a public hearing before the committee concerning the proposal.
(d) Prison industries may sell wood and metal office furniture and laundry services only to state agencies, as defined in s. 20.001 (1).
(2) Powers of department. In the administration of the prison industries program, the department may:
(a) Submit bids for any state contract;
(b) Submit bids for any contract or subcontract with a nonprofit organization as defined in s. 108.02 (19);
(c) Purchase machinery and raw materials;
(d) Operate a central warehouse and central generating station with the employment of prisoners to supply its institutions;
(e) Maintain auto shops in connection with auto schools and may receive from licensed automobile dealers and regularly established automobile repair shops vehicles to be repaired, painted or otherwise processed by inmates or residents of the school;
(em) Lease space, with or without equipment, within the precincts of state prisons, as specified in s. 302.02, or within the confines of correctional institutions operated by the department for holding in secure custody persons adjudged delinquent, to not more than 2 private businesses to employ prison inmates and institution residents to manufacture products or components or to provide services for sale on the open market. The department shall comply with s. 16.75 in selecting businesses under this paragraph. The department may enter into a contract under this paragraph only with the approval of the joint committee on finance. The department may not enter into or amend a contract under this paragraph unless the contract or amendment specifies each state prison or juvenile correctional institution at which the private business will employ inmates or institution residents. The department shall consult with appropriate trade organizations and labor unions prior to issuing requests for proposals and prior to selecting proposals under this paragraph. Each such private business may conduct its operations as a private business, subject to the wage standards under sub. (4), the disposition of earnings under sub. (8), the provisions regarding displacement in sub. (11), the requirements for notification and hearing under sub. (1) (c), the requirement for prison industries board approval under s. 303.015 (1) (b) and the authority of the department to maintain security and control in its institutions. The private business and its operations are not a prison industry. Inmates employed by the private business are not subject to the requirements of inmates participating in prison industries, except as provided in this paragraph;
(f) Lease or purchase land within the state for the employment of prisoners or residents; and
(g) Construct barracks for the safekeeping of prisoners or residents employed in the prison industries outside the prison or institution proper on the prison or institution premises.
(4) Wage standards. All inmates and residents shall be paid a wage that is based on the productivity of the work the inmates and residents perform. Wages may be established at an hourly rate plus an incentive wage based on productivity and piecework formulas may be created. However, wages shall not be set at a rate such as to cause a deficit on operations. Changes in inmate and resident wage rate schedules may not be made without approval of the prison industries board.
(6) Goal. To the extent possible, prison industries shall be operated in a manner that is similar to private business and industry. The primary goal of prison industries shall be to operate in a profitable manner. Within this goal, inmates or residents employed in prison industries shall be provided with training and work experience that allows them to develop skills necessary to retain employment in outside business and industry. Consistent with available resources, inmates or residents employed in prison industries may be required to take education courses related to their work to enhance their capacity for employment upon release from prison or an institution specified under sub. (1) (b).
(8) Disposition of earnings.
(a) The department has the authority to determine how much, if any, of the earnings of an inmate or resident may be spent and for what purposes they may be spent within the confines of the prison or institution.
(b) The department shall distribute earnings of an inmate or resident, other than an inmate or resident employed under sub. (2) (em), for the crime victim and witness assistance surcharge under s. 973.045 (4), for the delinquency victim and witness assistance surcharge under s. 938.34 (8d) (c), for the deoxyribonucleic acid analysis surcharge under s. 973.046 (4) and for compliance with s. 303.06 (2) and may distribute earnings for the support of the inmate's or resident's dependents and for other obligations either acknowledged by the inmate or resident in writing or which have been reduced to judgment that may be satisfied according to law. The department may also distribute earnings for the child pornography surcharge under s. 973.042 or the drug offender diversion surcharge under s. 973.043, but only if the inmate or resident has first provided for the reasonable support of his or her dependents.
(c) The department shall disburse the earnings of inmates and residents employed under sub. (2) (em) in the order stated:
1. Payment of applicable federal, state and local taxes.
2. Payment in compliance with s. 303.06 (3).
3. Payment of support ordered by a court under ch. 767.
4. The board of the inmate or resident and a reasonable room charge, as determined by the department.
5. Payment of the crime victim and witness assistance surcharge under s. 973.045 (4).
6. Payment of the delinquency victim and witness assistance surcharge under s. 938.34 (8d) (c).
7. Payment of the deoxyribonucleic acid analysis surcharge under s. 973.046 (4).
7m. Payment of the child pornography surcharge under s. 973.042.
8. Payment of the drug offender diversion surcharge under s. 973.043.
(d) The department may disburse the earnings of inmates and residents employed under sub. (2) (em) for the support of the inmate's or resident's dependents and for the payment of an obligation other than one specified under par. (c) if the obligation is acknowledged by the inmate or resident in writing or has been reduced to judgment that may be satisfied according to law.
(e) The department shall credit all moneys that it collects from earnings of inmates and residents employed under sub. (2) (em) to the appropriation account under s. 20.410 (1) (gi).
(9) Staff services. The secretary shall appoint the director of prison industries outside the classified service. The department shall provide other staff services to the prison industries board within the classified service.
(10) Sales personnel. Three sales representative positions and one sales manager position to sell and manage the sale of goods and services produced by prison industries shall be in the unclassified civil service.
(11) Displacement.
(a) In this subsection:
1. “Displace an employee" means to lay off an employee in this state as a direct result of work being performed in a state prison or juvenile correctional institution under a prison contract or to permanently transfer an employee in this state to another job that reduces the employee's base pay, excluding overtime, differentials and bonuses, by more than 25 percent as a direct result of work being performed in a state prison or juvenile correctional institution under a prison contract.
2. “Prison contract" means a contract entered into by the department under sub. (2) (em).
3. “Private employer" means a private business that is a party to a prison contract.
(b) A private employer may not displace an employee or cause another private business to displace an employee.
(c) A private employer may not employ inmates or institution residents under a prison contract if any of the following applies:
1. The inmates or institution residents are to be employed in a skill, craft or trade in which there is a surplus of available labor in the locality of the private employer.
2. The employment of the inmates or institution residents will impair the performance of other contracts to which the private employer is a party.
3. The inmates or institution residents will replace employees who are on strike against the private employer or locked out of work.
(d) A private employer shall post in all of its workplaces a notice provided by the department containing a description of the nature of the prison contract and an explanation of what it means for an employee of a private employer to be displaced under this subsection and identifying a person at the department whom an employee of a private employer may contact if the employee believes that he or she may have been displaced by a prison contract.
History: 1975 c. 41 s. 52; 1975 c. 224, 396; 1977 c. 26 ss. 42, 75; 1983 a. 27; 1983 a. 189 s. 329 (28); 1983 a. 524; 1987 a. 27; 1989 a. 31 s. 1673c; Stats. 1989 s. 303.01; 1989 a. 283; 1991 a. 269; 1993 a. 16; 1995 a. 27; 1997 a. 27, 36; 1999 a. 9, 32; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 25, 433.
Sub. (8) (b) gives a trial court authority to order restitution distributed from prison wages. A judgment of conviction including an order for restitution is an “other obligation reduced to judgment that may be satisfied according to law." State v. Baker, 2001 WI App 100, 243 Wis. 2d 77, 626 N.W.2d 862, 99-3347.
The Department of Corrections was not authorized under sub. (8) (b) to take the defendant's earnings to satisfy unpaid restitution ordered in a judgment that imposed a sentence that the defendant had completed because: 1) the restitution ordered was a condition of parole; and 2) conditions of parole do not survive the completion of a sentence. Therefore, the restitution ordered was not an obligation that may be satisfied according to law within the meaning of sub. (8) (b) after the defendant completed the sentence. Markovic v. Litscher, 2018 WI App 44, 383 Wis. 2d 576, 916 N.W.2d 202, 17-2206.
Inmates are not entitled to federal minimum wage protection. Sundby v. Fiedler, 827 F. Supp. 583 (1993).