303.18 Commitments; municipal prisoners; contract with other county.

(1) Every court of record authorized to commit any person to the county jail upon conviction of any offense, or authorized to sentence any person to imprisonment in the Wisconsin state prisons for any term not exceeding one year, may, in lieu of the sentence, commit or sentence the person to the house of correction for an equivalent term, at hard labor. All mittimuses and warrants of commitment in those cases shall be directed to the superintendent of the house of correction and shall be the authority of the superintendent for the detention of the person sentenced or committed.

(2) Each city, village or town in the county shall, at a time designated by the county board, pay to the county the actual and reasonable costs of maintenance, as determined by ordinance of the county board, of all persons confined in the house of correction for the violation of any of the ordinances of the city, village or town during the preceding year, except that no costs are due for any period in which the person was also confined for reasons other than the violation of a city, village, or town ordinance.

(3) The county may contract with any other county, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by their respective county boards, to receive into the house any person who may be sentenced to confinement therein by any court of record of such other county; and thereupon, so long as the contract remains in force, every court of record in such other county authorized to commit or sentence any person to the county jail may, in lieu of the sentence or commitment, sentence or commit the person to the house for an equivalent term, at hard labor; and any officer to whom the process of commitment in the case is delivered for execution shall convey the person to the house and deliver the person, with the commitment papers, to the superintendent of the house; and thereafter the person shall be detained and treated by all persons, courts and officers as if sentenced and committed to the house by any court of record in the county in which the house is established.

(4) Whenever it appears that the continued presence of any person convicted of a felony and committed to the house of correction is detrimental to the person, or to other inmates, or to the discipline of the house of correction, the superintendent may immediately return the person to the committing court and the court shall sentence the person to the Wisconsin state prisons for the remainder of the term for which originally sentenced, less any credits for good behavior accumulated under s. 303.19. The person shall be given credit for time served prior to sentencing under s. 973.155, including good time under s. 973.155 (4).

(5) Whenever in the opinion of the superintendent of such house and the county physician in charge at the house, an inmate's life is in jeopardy because of injury or disease or that the inmate is suffering from a disease that cannot be advantageously treated at the house, a temporary transfer of such inmate may be made on their order to the Milwaukee County Hospital, but notification of such transfer shall in all cases be given to the department and shall be subject to cancellation by it at any time.

History: 1977 c. 305, 353, 418, 447; 1987 a. 388; 1989 a. 31 s. 1693; Stats. 1989 s. 303.18; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 246; 2019 a. 70.