940.203 Battery or threat to an officer of the court or law enforcement officer.

(1) In this section:

(ac) “Attorney” means a legal professional practicing law, as defined in SCR 23.01.

(am) “Family member" means a parent, spouse, sibling, child, stepchild, or foster child.

(b) “Judge" means a person who currently is or who formerly was a supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, circuit court judge, municipal judge, tribal judge, temporary or permanent reserve judge, or circuit, supplemental, or municipal court commissioner.

(c) “Law enforcement officer" means any person who currently is or was employed by the state, by any political subdivision, or as a tribal law enforcement officer for the purpose of detecting and preventing crime and enforcing laws or ordinances and who is authorized to make arrests for violations of the laws or ordinances the person is employed to enforce, whether that enforcement authority extends to all laws or ordinances or is limited to specific laws or ordinances.

(d) “Prosecutor" means a person who currently is or formerly was any of the following:

1. A district attorney, a deputy district attorney, an assistant district attorney, or a special prosecutor appointed under s. 978.045 or 978.05 (8) (b).

2. The attorney general, a deputy attorney general, or an assistant attorney general.

3. A tribal prosecutor.

(2) Whoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause bodily harm to the person or family member of any judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer under all of the following circumstances is guilty of a Class H felony:

(a) At the time of the act or threat, the actor knows or should have known that the victim is a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer or a member of the judge's, prosecutor's, or law enforcement officer's family.

(b) The act or threat is in response to any action taken by a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer in an official capacity.

(c) There is no consent by the person harmed or threatened.

(3) Whoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause bodily harm to the person or family member of a current or former guardian ad litem, corporation counsel, or attorney under all of the following circumstances is guilty of a Class H felony:

(a) At the time of the act or threat, the actor knows or should have known that the victim is a current or former guardian ad litem, corporation counsel, or attorney, or a member of the current or former guardian ad litem's, corporation counsel's, or attorney's family.

(b) The act or threat is in response to an action taken by the current or former guardian ad litem, corporation counsel, or attorney in his or her official capacity in a proceeding under ch. 48, 51, 54, 55, 767, 813, or 938.

(c) There is no consent by the person harmed or threatened.

History: 1993 a. 50, 446; 2001 a. 61, 109; 2009 a. 28; 2015 a. 78; 2017 a. 272, 352.

Only a “true threat" is punishable under this section. A true threat is a statement that a speaker would reasonably foresee that a listener would reasonably interpret as a serious expression of a purpose to inflict harm, as distinguished from hyperbole, jest, innocuous talk, expressions of political views, or other similarly protected speech. It is not necessary that the speaker have the ability to carry out the threat. Jury instructions must contain a clear definition of a true threat. State v. Perkins, 2001 WI 46, 243 Wis. 2d 141, 626 N.W.2d 762, 99-1924.