301.328 Judgment for litigation loans to prisoners.

(1) In this section, “litigation loan" means a loan made to a prisoner by the department to pay for paper, photocopying, postage or other expenses associated with litigation commenced by the prisoner.

(1m) No prisoner may receive more than $100 annually in litigation loans, except that any amount of the debt the prisoner repays during the year may be advanced to the prisoner again without counting against the $100 litigation loan limit. No prisoner may receive a litigation loan in any amount until he or she has repaid a prior loan in full or has made arrangements for repayment.

(2) If a prisoner fails to repay a litigation loan to the department, the warden of the institution where the prisoner is incarcerated, imprisoned, confined or detained may submit a certification under oath to the clerk of circuit court in the county where the institution is located. The certification shall state the amount of litigation loans unpaid, the name and location of the prisoner and such other information as the court considers necessary. The court shall order that the amount certified by the warden be a judgment on behalf of the state and against the prisoner if the prisoner fails to submit a written objection to the court within 20 days after the court receives the certification from the warden. If the prisoner timely submits a written objection to the certification, the court shall consider the objection to be a complaint in a civil action and proceed under the rules of procedure under ch. 799, without requiring the service of a summons or the payment of filing fees.

(3) At the same time that the warden submits the certification to the court, the warden shall provide the prisoner with a copy of the certification. The warden shall attach to the certification provided to the prisoner a notice informing the prisoner of all of the following:

(a) That if the prisoner fails to submit a written objection to the court within 20 days after the court receives the certification from the warden, the court shall order that the amount certified by the warden be a judgment on behalf of the state and against the prisoner.

(b) The name and address of the circuit court where the certification was submitted.

(c) That if the prisoner timely objects to the certification, the objection will be considered a complaint for purposes of the commencement of a civil suit under ch. 799.

(d) That the prisoner is required to submit a copy of the objection to the warden at the time he or she submits the objection to the clerk of circuit court.

History: 1997 a. 133; 2011 a. 32.