785.04 Sanctions authorized.
(1) Remedial sanction. A court may impose one or more of the following remedial sanctions:
(a) Payment of a sum of money sufficient to compensate a party for a loss or injury suffered by the party as the result of a contempt of court.
(b) Imprisonment if the contempt of court is of a type included in s. 785.01 (1) (b), (bm), (c) or (d). The imprisonment may extend only so long as the person is committing the contempt of court or 6 months, whichever is the shorter period.
(c) A forfeiture not to exceed $2,000 for each day the contempt of court continues.
(d) An order designed to ensure compliance with a prior order of the court.
(e) A sanction other than the sanctions specified in pars. (a) to (d) if it expressly finds that those sanctions would be ineffectual to terminate a continuing contempt of court.
(2) Punitive sanction.
(a) Nonsummary procedure. A court, after a finding of contempt of court in a nonsummary procedure under s. 785.03 (1) (b), may impose for each separate contempt of court a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or both.
(b) Summary procedure. A court, after a finding of contempt of court in a summary procedure under s. 785.03 (2), may impose for each separate contempt of court a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days or both.
(3) Past conduct. A punitive sanction may be imposed for past conduct which was a contempt of court even though similar present conduct is a continuing contempt of court.
History: 1979 c. 257; 1993 a. 78.
A court may award attorney fees and other litigation costs under sub. (1) (a). Town of Seymour v. City of Eau Claire, 112 Wis. 2d 313, 332 N.W.2d 821 (Ct. App. 1983).
Purge conditions must be within the power of the contemnor and must be reasonably related to the cause or nature of the contempt. Larsen v. Larsen, 159 Wis. 2d 672, 465 N.W.2d 225 (Ct. App. 1990).
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