Failure to report to jail defense lawyers - Wis. Stat. 946.425
Failure to report to jail is a crime in Wisconsin. Van Severen Law Office represents individuals throughout the state.
Nobody wants to report to jail. But after the conclusion of a criminal case, sometimes jail penalties result. Failure to report to jail is an additional crime that applies when the defendant decides that he isn’t going to report to jail to serve the time required of the older case. In cases where the judge takes the defendant immediately into custody, obviously charges under this statute are impossible. Failure to report cases occur when the judge offers the defendant the opportunity to begin his sentence after the date of the sentencing hearing and he intentionally doesn’t show up.
Hiring a top criminal defense attorney becomes even more important when you’re facing compounded criminal charges. If you’re facing this charge, you were just convicted of another offense. Unfortunately, things didn’t get better for you between your sentencing date and report date. We believe that handling this on your own is usually only asking for trouble.
At Van Severen Law Office, S.C., our criminal defense attorneys are consistently recognized as some of the best in Wisconsin. The hard work we’ve done for clients has paid off for both our firm’s reputation and the clients we’ve served. Contact us at (414) 270-0202 to see how we can help you.
(1) Any person who is subject to a series of periods of imprisonment under s. 973.03 (5) (b) and who intentionally fails to report to the county jail as required under the sentence is guilty of a Class H felony.
(1m)
(a) Any person who receives a stay of execution of a sentence of imprisonment of less than 10 days to a county jail under s. 973.15 (8) (a) and who intentionally fails to report to the county jail as required under the sentence is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
(b)Any person who receives a stay of execution of a sentence of imprisonment of 10 or more days to a county jail under s. 973.15 (8) (a) and who intentionally fails to report to the county jail as required under the sentence is guilty of a Class H felony.
(1r)
(a)Any person who is subject to a confinement order under s. 973.09 (4) as the result of a conviction for a misdemeanor and who intentionally fails to report to the county jail or house of correction as required under the order is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
(b)Any person who is subject to a confinement order under s. 973.09 (4) as the result of a conviction for a felony and who intentionally fails to report to the county jail or house of correction as required under the order is guilty of a Class H felony.
(3) A prosecutor may not charge a person with violating both subs. (1) and (1m) regarding the same incident or occurrence.
Let’s straighten out a few things off the bat: this crime requires intentional conduct. If the defendant is hospitalized at the time when he needs to report, and is not allowed to leave, this is not intentionally failing to report to jail. Similarly, if the defendant is taken into custody on a separate new charge and is in custody, he will not be charged for failing to report to jail on the older charge. Secondly, charges under this subsection apply to both felonies and misdemeanors, but only those that resulted in a imprisonment in the county jail. Failure to report to prison is not punishable with this section.
Let’s break down the penalties so they’re easier to understand:
Wis. Stat. section 946.425(1): While this practice does not regularly occur in all counties, courts can break jail sentences down into two-to-three day pieces (usually served over the weekend) that result in the defendant serving the total sentence length. For example, let’s assume the court sentences the defendant to 10-days in jail for an OWI 2nd charge. Ignoring any credit issues for our example, if the court allows it, the defendant can serve this 10-day jail sentence in five different 2-day pieces. The defendant still serves his total 10-day sentence, but it is not all done at once.
If the defendant fails to report to any of these terms in jail, the charge is a Class H felony, punishable by up to 6 years in prison, $10,000.00 in fines, or both. This applies no matter how long the total underlying sentence is.
Wis. Stat. section 946.425(1m): Sometimes courts puts defendants on probation, but require them to serve a period of time in jail as a condition of that probation. Failure to report to that conditional jail is where this crime occurs:
Probation with a condition including confinement of less than 10 days result in Class A misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to 9 months in jail, $10,000.00 in fines, or both.
Probation with a condition including confinement of 10 or more days result in Class H felony charges, punishable by up to 6 years in prison, $10,000.00 in fines, or both.
Wis. Stat. section 946.425(1r): This is a “normal” jail sentence. The penalties and timeframes are the same as those in conditional jail cases.
Nobody wants to report to jail. But failing to do so will lead to a new case, new charges, and new potential penalties. Contact Van Severen Law Office, S.C. at (414) 270-0202 to speak with one of our criminal defense lawyers.
Contact Van Severen Law Office, S.C. to speak with one of Wisconsin’s best criminal defense lawyers.
We understand that no one wants to go to jail. Unfortunately, failing to do so can lead to additional criminal liability. And depending on the underlying sentence, that liability increases very quickly. A relatively short 10-day jail sentence for a misdemeanor charge could all of a sudden lead to new, much more serious felony charges that could result in prison. This is exactly why it’s important to hire competent, aggressive criminal defense counsel when facing any charges.
But you’re in the right place. At Van Severen Law Office, our entire criminal defense firm is regularly recognized as one of Wisconsin’s best. We fight tough charges for our clients and in many of those cases, we’ve won.
Contact us at (414) 270-0202 to begin speaking with us about your case.
