343.32 Other grounds for revocation or suspension of licenses; demerit points.

(1) The secretary shall revoke a person's operating privilege whenever notice has been received of the conviction of such person in another jurisdiction for an offense therein which, if committed in this state, would have required revocation of such person's operating privilege under this subsection.

(1m)

(a) In this subsection, “another jurisdiction" means any state other than Wisconsin and includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and any territory or possession of the United States and any province of the Dominion of Canada.

(b) The secretary may suspend a person's operating privilege for not less than 6 months nor more than 5 years whenever notice has been received of the conviction of such person under federal law or the law of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state or the law of another jurisdiction for any offense therein which, if the person had committed the offense in this state and been convicted of the offense under the laws of this state, would have permitted suspension of such person's operating privilege under s. 961.50. The person is eligible for an occupational license under s. 343.10 as follows:

1. For the first such conviction, at any time.

2. For a 2nd conviction within a 5-year period, after the first 60 days of the suspension period.

3. For a 3rd or subsequent conviction within a 5-year period, after the first 90 days of the suspension period.

(c) For purposes of counting the number of convictions under par. (b), convictions of any violation of ch. 961 shall be counted and given the effect specified under par. (b). The 5-year period under this subsection shall be measured from the dates of the violations which resulted in the convictions.

(d) If the person's license or operating privilege is currently suspended or revoked or the person does not currently possess a valid operator's license issued under this chapter, the suspension or revocation under this subsection is effective on the date on which the person is first eligible for issuance, renewal, or reinstatement of an operator's license under this chapter.

(1s) The secretary shall suspend the operating privilege of any person who has been convicted under state law or under a local ordinance which is in conformity therewith or under a law of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state which is in conformity with state law of altering the person's license, loaning the person's license to another or unlawfully or fraudulently using or permitting an unlawful or fraudulent use of a license.

(2)

(a) The secretary may suspend a person's operating privilege if the person appears by the records of the department to be a habitually reckless or negligent operator of a motor vehicle or to have repeatedly violated any of the state traffic laws, any local ordinance enacted under ch. 349 or any traffic laws enacted by a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state if the tribal traffic laws violated strictly conform to provisions in chs. 341 to 348 or, if the offense occurred on a federal military installation located in this state, any federal law which is in strict conformity with a state traffic law. For the purpose of determining when to suspend an operating privilege under this subsection, the secretary may determine and adopt by rule a method of weighing traffic convictions by their seriousness and may, subject to the limitations in this subsection, change such weighted scale as experience or the accident frequency in the state makes necessary or desirable.

(b) The scale adopted by the secretary shall assign, for each conviction, 3 demerit points for exceeding the lawful speed limit by 10 or less miles per hour, 4 demerit points for exceeding the lawful speed limit by more than 10 but less than 20 miles per hour or 6 demerit points for exceeding the lawful speed limit by 20 or more miles per hour. Except as provided in s. 343.085 (5), the scale adopted by the secretary may not assign more demerit points for a subsequent conviction for exceeding the lawful speed limit than the number of demerit points specified for the conviction in this paragraph.

(bc)

1. Except as provided in subd. 2., the scale adopted by the secretary shall assess, for each conviction, twice the number of demerit points that are assessed for the same offense committed by the holder of a regular license, if the convicted person has been previously convicted of an offense for which demerit points are assessed and the person is one of the following:

a. A person who holds a probationary license.

b. An unlicensed person who would hold a probationary license if licensed.

c. A person who holds an instruction permit under s. 343.07.

2. The secretary may not increase under subd. 1. the number of demerit points that are assessed for a violation of ch. 347.

(bd) The scale adopted by the secretary shall assess, for each conviction, 6 demerit points for a violation of s. 346.44 or 346.62 (2m), except that convictions under s. 346.44 and 346.62 (2m) arising out of the same incident or occurrence shall be counted as a single conviction.

(be) The scale adopted by the secretary shall assess, for each conviction, 2 demerit points for a violation of s. 346.94 (22) (c) or (d), except that convictions arising out of the same incident or occurrence shall be counted as a single conviction.

(bg) The scale adopted by the secretary shall assign, for each conviction, 3 demerit points for operating a motor vehicle while disqualified, revoked, suspended or out-of-service under s. 343.44 or a local ordinance in conformity therewith.

(bj) The scale adopted by the secretary shall assess, for each conviction, 6 demerit points for a violation of s. 346.63 (6), 4 demerit points for a violation of s. 346.63 (2m), and 3 demerit points for a violation of s. 346.63 (7) (a) 3. The scale adopted by the secretary shall not assess any demerit points for conviction of a violation of s. 346.63 (5) or (7) (a) 1. or 2.

(bk) The scale adopted by the secretary shall assess, for each conviction, 6 demerit points for a violation of s. 346.70 (1) by the operator of a vehicle.

(bm)

1. The scale adopted by the secretary may not assess any demerit points for operating a motor vehicle without a valid operator's license in the operator's immediate possession in violation of s. 343.18 (1).

2. The scale adopted by the secretary may not assess more than 2 demerit points for operating a motor vehicle with a defective or improper speedometer in violation of s. 347.41.

(br) The scale adopted by the secretary may not assess any demerit points for modifying the height of a vehicle in violation of s. 347.455.

(bt) The scale adopted by the secretary may not assess any demerit points for a violation of s. 346.922 or 347.48 (2m) (b), (c) or (d) or (4) (am).

(c)

1. Except as provided in subd. 2., in order for the secretary to suspend an operating privilege under this subsection, the operator must have accumulated 12 demerit points in any 12-month period.

2. The secretary shall suspend, for a period of 6 months, the operating privilege of any person who holds a probationary license issued on or after September 1, 2000, and who has accumulated 12 demerit points in any 12-month period.

(d) When an operator accumulates more than 6 demerit points or has been involved in 2 or more accidents in a one-year period where the accident report indicates that the person may have been causally negligent, the secretary may require the operator to report to an examining station for driver improvement counseling, consisting of either group or individual counseling, reexamination or both.

(e) The secretary may require any person who has had his or her operating privilege suspended or revoked, whether the suspension or revocation is the result of action under this section or s. 343.30, or conviction for an offense which requires mandatory revocation under s. 343.31 to participate in driver improvement counseling, consisting of either group or individual counseling, reexamination or both.

(f) A reexamination required under par. (d) or (e) may consist of all or part of the tests specified in s. 343.16 (2) (b), or any other special examination as required under s. 343.16 (5). Upon conclusion of the counseling, interview and examination, the secretary shall take action as authorized at the conclusion of other examinations under s. 343.16 (6) (a).

(3) Except as provided in sub. (1m), a revocation or suspension under this section may be for any period not exceeding one year unless a different period is specifically prescribed by law.

(4) In adopting rules for weighing traffic convictions by their seriousness under sub. (2), the secretary shall provide by rule for a reduction of up to 3 points if a person shows to the department satisfactory evidence of completion of a rider course approved by the secretary. This subsection applies only to demerit points relating to violations committed before completion of the rider course by a person while driving or operating a motorcycle.

NOTE: Sub. (4) is shown as amended eff. 5-1-20 by 2019 Wis. Act 50. Prior to 5-1-20 it reads:

(5) In adopting rules for weighing traffic convictions by their seriousness under sub. (2), the secretary also may provide by rule for a reduction of points if a person shows to the department satisfactory evidence of completion of a course of instruction in traffic safety, defensive driving or similar course or driver improvement counseling approved by the secretary.

(6) There shall be no minimum waiting period before issuance of an occupational license under s. 343.10 to a person whose operating privilege has been suspended under sub. (2) if the person is otherwise eligible for issuance of an occupational license.

History: 1971 c. 42, 278, 281; 1973 c. 90; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (7) (a), (c); 1977 c. 273; 1979 c. 221; 1981 c. 31, 216, 327; 1987 a. 24, 132; 1989 a. 22, 75, 105, 195, 359; 1991 a. 26, 32, 39, 189; 1993 a. 16, 314, 480; 1995 a. 113, 269, 338, 420, 448; 1997 a. 84, 135; 1999 a. 9, 185; 2005 a. 106, 317; 2009 a. 8, 103, 311; 2011 a. 256; 2013 a. 151; 2019 a. 50.