66.0225 Stipulated boundary agreements in contested boundary actions.

(1) Definitions. In this section, “municipality" means a city, village, or town.

(2) Contested annexations. Any 2 municipalities whose boundaries are immediately adjacent at any point and who are parties to an action, proceeding, or appeal in court for the purpose of testing the validity of an annexation may enter into a written stipulation, compromising and settling the litigation and determining the portion of the common boundary line between the municipalities that is the subject of the annexation. The court having jurisdiction of the litigation, whether the circuit court, the court of appeals, or the supreme court, may enter a final judgment incorporating the provisions of the stipulation and fixing the common boundary line between the municipalities involved. A stipulation changing boundaries of municipalities shall be approved by the governing body of each municipality and s. 66.0217 (9) and (11) shall apply. A change of municipal boundaries under this section is subject to a referendum of the electors residing within the territory whose jurisdiction is subject to change under the stipulation, if within 30 days after the publication of the stipulation to change boundaries in a newspaper of general circulation in that territory, a petition for a referendum conforming to the requirements of s. 8.40 signed by at least 20 percent of the electors residing within that territory is filed with the clerk of the municipality from which the greater area is proposed to be removed and is filed as provided in s. 8.37. The referendum shall be conducted as are annexation referenda. If the referendum election fails, all proceedings under this section are void.

(3) Contested boundary actions.

(a) In this subsection, “boundary action" means an action, proceeding, or appeal in court contesting the validity of an annexation, consolidation, detachment, or incorporation.

(b) If 2 municipalities whose boundaries are immediately adjacent at any point are parties to a boundary action, the municipalities may enter into an agreement under s. 66.0301 (6) or s. 66.0307 as part of a stipulation to settle the boundary action. The court may approve and make part of the final judgment a stipulation that includes an agreement under s. 66.0301 (6) or s. 66.0307.

(4) Authority for certain stipulations. A stipulation that is court-approved under this section before January 19, 2008, that affects the location of a boundary between municipalities, is not invalid as lacking authority to affect the location of the boundary.

History: 1977 c. 187; 1989 a. 192; 1991 a. 269; 1999 a. 150 s. 71; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0225; 1999 a. 182 s. 201; 1999 a. 186; 2001 a. 30; 2007 a. 43.