Wis. Stat. § 165.84 — WI Code / Chapter 165 / Section 165.84
Cooperation in criminal identification, records and statistics.
Status: in_force

(1) All persons in charge of law enforcement and tribal law enforcement agencies shall obtain, or cause to be obtained, the fingerprints in duplicate, according to the fingerprint system of identification established by the director of the F.B.I., full face, profile and full length photographs, and other available identifying data, of each person arrested or taken into custody for an offense of a type designated in s. 165.83 (2) (a) , of all persons arrested or taken into custody as fugitives from justice, and fingerprints in duplicate and other identifying data of all unidentified human corpses in their jurisdictions, but photographs need not be taken if it is known that photographs of the type listed, taken within the previous year, are on file at the department. Fingerprints and other identifying data of persons arrested or taken into custody for offenses other than those designated in s. 165.83 (2) (a) may be taken at the discretion of the law enforcement or tribal law enforcement agency concerned. Any person arrested or taken into custody and subsequently released without charge, or cleared of the offense through court proceedings, shall have any fingerprint record taken in connection therewith removed from the department’s records upon request.

(2) Fingerprints and other identifying data required to be taken under sub. (1) shall be forwarded to the department within 24 hours after taking for filing and classification, but the period of 24 hours may be extended to cover any intervening holiday or weekend. Photographs taken shall be forwarded at the discretion of the law enforcement or tribal law enforcement agency concerned, but, if not forwarded, the fingerprint record shall be marked “Photo available” and the photographs shall be forwarded subsequently if the department so requests.

(3) All persons in charge of law enforcement and tribal law enforcement agencies shall forward to the department copies or detailed descriptions of the arrest warrants and the identifying data described in s. 165.83 (2) (e) immediately upon determination of the fact that the warrant cannot be served for the reasons stated. If the warrant is subsequently served or withdrawn, the law enforcement or tribal law enforcement agency concerned must immediately notify the department of the service or withdrawal. In any case, the law enforcement or tribal law enforcement agency concerned must annually, no later than January 31 of each year, confirm to the department all arrest warrants of this type which continue to be outstanding.

(4) All persons in charge of state penal and correctional institutions shall obtain fingerprints, according to the fingerprint system of identification established by the director of the F.B.I., and full face and profile photographs of all persons received on commitment to these institutions. The prints and photographs so taken shall be forwarded to the department, together with any other identifying data requested, within 10 days after the arrival at the institution of the person committed. Full length photographs in release dress shall be taken immediately prior to the release of these persons from these institutions. Immediately after release, these photographs shall be forwarded to the department.

(5) All persons in charge of law enforcement and tribal law enforcement agencies, all clerks of court, all municipal judges where they have no clerks, all persons in charge of state and county penal and correctional institutions, and all persons in charge of state and county probation, extended supervision and parole offices, shall supply the department with the information described in s. 165.83 (2) (f) on the basis of the forms and instructions to be supplied by the department under s. 165.83 (2) (g) .

(6) All persons in charge of law enforcement and tribal law enforcement agencies in this state shall furnish the department with any other identifying data required in accordance with guidelines established by the department. All law enforcement and tribal law enforcement agencies and penal and correctional institutions in this state having criminal identification files shall cooperate in providing to the department copies of such items in these files as will aid in establishing the nucleus of the state criminal identification file.

(7)

(ab) In this subsection, “violent crime” means any of the following:

1. A felony violation of s. 940.01 , 940.05 , 940.21 , 940.225 (1) , (2) , or (3) , 940.235 , 940.30 , 940.302 (2) , 940.305 , 940.31 , 940.32 (2) , (2e) , or (2m) , 940.43 , 940.45 , 940.66 (2) , 941.20 , 941.21 , 941.327 , 943.02 , 943.06 , 943.10 , 943.23 (2) , 943.231 (1) , 943.32 , 948.02 (1) or (2) , 948.025 , 948.03 (2) (a) or (c) or (5) (a) 1. , 2. , 3. , or 4. , 948.05 , 948.051 , 948.055 , 948.07 , 948.072 , 948.08 , 948.085 , 948.095 , or 948.30 (2) or s. 940.198 (2) , 2023 stats.

2. A felony violation of s. 940.02 , 940.03 , 940.06 , 940.07 , 940.08 , 940.09 (1c) , 940.10 , 940.23 , 940.60 (2) or (3) (a) , (b) , or (c) , 940.61 , 940.62 , 940.65 (2) or (3) (a) , (b) , or (c) , 941.30 , or 948.03 (3) or (5) (a) 4. or s. 940.19 (2) , 2023 stats., s. 940.19 (4) , 2023 stats., s. 940.19 (5) , 2023 stats. s. 940.19 (6) , 2023 stats., s. 940.195 (2) , 2023 stats., s. 940.195 (4) , 2023 stats., s. 940.195 (5) , 2023 stats., s. 940.195 (6) , 2023 stats., s. 940.20 , 2023 stats., s. 940.201 (2) , 2023 stats., s. 940.203 (2) , 2023 stats., s. 940.204 , 2023 stats., s. 940.205 (2) , 2023 stats., s. 940.207 (2) , 2023 stats., or s. 940.208 , 2023 stats.

3. A felony if a penalty enhancer specified in s. 939.621 could be imposed.

4. The solicitation, conspiracy, or attempt, under s. 939.30 , 939.31 , or 939.32 , to commit a violation under subd. 1.

(ah) Subject to rules promulgated by the department of justice under s. 165.76 (4) , all persons in charge of law enforcement and tribal law enforcement agencies shall obtain, when the individual’s fingerprints or other identifying data are obtained, a biological specimen for deoxyribonucleic acid analysis from each individual arrested for a violent crime and each individual taken into custody for a juvenile offense that would be a violent crime if committed by an adult in this state. The law enforcement agency shall submit the biological specimen to the crime laboratories in a manner specified in the rules under s. 165.76 (4) .

(am) After receiving an individual’s specimen submitted under par. (ah) , the crime laboratories shall do one of the following:

1m. If, within the time limit under subd. 2m. , the court notifies the crime laboratories under par. (bm) that any of the following applies, analyze the deoxyribonucleic acid in the specimen and include the individual’s deoxyribonucleic acid profile in the data bank under s. 165.77 (3) :

a. The individual was arrested, or the juvenile was taken into custody, under a warrant.

b. The court has made a finding that there is probable cause that the individual committed a violent crime or that the juvenile committed an offense that would be a violent crime if committed by an adult in this state.

c. The individual failed to appear at the initial appearance or preliminary examination or the person waived the preliminary examination.

d. The individual failed to appear for a delinquency proceeding under ch. 938 .

2m. If, one year after the date the biological sample was submitted under par. (ah) , the court has not notified the crime laboratories under par. (bm) that subd. 1m. a. , b. , c. , or d. applies to the individual, destroy the biological sample.

(bm) The court shall notify the crime laboratories if par. (am) 1m. a. , b. , c. , or d. applies to an individual who has been arrested.

(c)

1. No biological specimen obtained under par. (ah) may be subject to analysis except by the crime laboratories as provided under s. 165.77 .

2. Biological specimens obtained under this section may be used only as provided under s. 165.77 .

History: 1977 c. 305 s. 64 ; 1985 a. 29 ; 1993 a. 407 ; 1997 a. 283 ; 2013 a. 20 , 214 ; 2015 a. 366 ; 2021 a. 76 , 209 , 242 ; 2023 a. 10 ; 2025 a. 24 s. 93 ; 2025 a. 88 .