# Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Law Enforcement Standards Board (LESB) certifies officers and may decertify them on listed grounds, including resignation in lieu of termination. Since 2023 the State has brought tactical emergency medical services professionals under LESB certification and the use-of-force law, let agencies charge for redacting video, and required subpoenas to officers about official acts to be served at work. The Board’s decertification rules still predate the 2021 statute; the Department of Justice has started a rule update.

Source: https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/wisconsin

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** Law Enforcement Standards Board (LESB), staffed by the Department of Justice Training and Standards Bureau. It certifies and may decertify law enforcement, tribal law enforcement, jail, and juvenile detention officers, and since March 28, 2024, tactical emergency medical services professionals ([Wis. Stat. 165.85(3)(c), (3)(cm)](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/165/85)).
- **Statute:** Wis. Stat. 165.85 (LESB, certification, decertification, prior-employment file waivers); 175.44 (use of force, duty to report and intervene, whistleblower protection); 66.0511 (published use-of-force policy, chokehold limits, complaint procedure); 175.47 (independent investigation of officer-involved deaths); 165.87 (body cameras); 19.35(3)(h) (redaction fees for audio and video). Rules: Wis. Admin. Code LES 1 to 9.
- **Minimum standards:** A preparatory program of at least 600 hours. Preservice students are fingerprinted for state and FBI checks, and federal felony, domestic-violence, or felony-equivalent convictions bar training unless fully pardoned. A hiring agency must obtain a signed waiver from any candidate with prior law enforcement or government employment, and must request the candidate’s full employment files, including internal affairs files and discipline, at least 30 days before deciding; prior employers must produce them within 21 days. A candidate who refuses the waiver cannot be hired or certified. Nondisclosure agreements signed before November 7, 2021 excuse production, and none may be entered after that date ([165.85(2)(ap), (4)(a), (4)(em)](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/165/85)).
- **Decertification:** Discretionary: under 165.85(3), headed “The board may,” the Board may decertify officers, and since March 28, 2024 tactical EMS professionals, who resign in lieu of termination or are fired for just cause (unless the Board decides on review that decertification is not needed); violate Board curriculum, training, or recruitment rules; falsify information; are certified by administrative error; are convicted of a felony or felony-equivalent, or of misdemeanor domestic violence or domestic abuse (officers must self-report within 30 days); or, for those crimes, enter deferred-judgment, deferred-prosecution, or diversion agreements, if the Board finds certification not in the public interest ([165.85(3)(cm)](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/165/85)). Mandatory: the Board must decertify for failure to pay child support or comply with related subpoenas, as provided in a memorandum with the Department of Children and Families (165.85(3m)(a)). Decertification procedures must follow ch. 227 and include review of resignations in lieu of termination and just-cause terminations (165.85(3m)(c)). The Board’s rule on decertification, [LES 6](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/les/6.pdf), last amended in 1997, has no process for reviewing resignations in lieu of termination or just-cause terminations; it covers only decertification on termination of employment (LES 6.02) and revocation for curriculum and training violations (LES 6.03). The Department of Justice states in scope statement SS 076-25 that the rules must be updated for these changes.
- **Public decertification list:** None found. No statute requires a list, no LESB decertification list was found on the Department of Justice site, and the department’s law enforcement portal (WILENET) requires a login.
- **National Decertification Index:** None found. Neither Wis. Stat. 165.85 nor Wis. Admin. Code LES 1 to 9 names the Index.
- **Continuing training:** Officers must complete at least 24 hours of recertification training each fiscal year. That includes at least 4 hours every two years of police-pursuit training based on Board model standards and an annual handgun qualification, both counted toward the 24 hours ([165.85(4)(a)7.](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/165/85)). Sheriffs are exempt from these requirements (165.85(4)(a)8.).

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Apr 4, 2026 — **Subpoenas to officers about official acts go to the work address; discovery lists the work address** — 2025 Wis. Act 150 (2025 SB 191), creating Wis. Stat. 885.035, 971.23(12), and 972.11(5) and amending 972.11(1) · Enacted April 2, 2026; published April 3, 2026; effective April 4, 2026 — A subpoena to a law enforcement or tribal law enforcement officer, or to another public officer or employee, about acts in an official capacity “may be served only at the individual’s work address,” the employer’s primary work address, including by leaving a copy with an authorized employee. In criminal discovery, such a witness’s address means the employer’s address, not a home address. — **For officers:** A subpoena about your official acts must be served at work, and your home address stays out of criminal discovery lists. — [2025 Wis. Act 150](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/related/acts/150.pdf)
- Mar 31, 2024 — **Agencies may charge redaction fees for audio and video records, with exceptions** — 2023 Wis. Act 253 (2023 SB 789), creating Wis. Stat. 19.35(3)(h) · Enacted March 29, 2024; published March 30, 2024; effective March 31, 2024 — A law enforcement agency “may impose a fee” for the actual, necessary, and direct cost of redacting audio or video where redaction is legally required. Staff time is billed at the rate of the lowest-paid employee able to do the work, and a written estimate comes first. No fee may be charged to a requester who certifies no financial use and has made 10 or fewer audio and video requests that year (a false certification carries a $10,000 forfeiture); to a person directly involved in the event, or that person’s attorney or parent; or for records of “a shooting involving an officer.” — **For officers:** No new duty for officers. Footage of officer shootings stays free to request. — [2023 Wis. Act 253](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/related/acts/253.pdf)
- Mar 28, 2024 — **Tactical EMS professionals certified by LESB and covered by the use-of-force and duty-to-intervene law** — 2023 Wis. Act 218 (2023 SB 829), amending Wis. Stat. 165.85(3) and 175.44(1)(b) and creating 165.85(2)(fh) and (4)(am) · Enacted March 26, 2024; published March 27, 2024; effective March 28, 2024 — Licensed EMS professionals endorsed to serve with tactical teams, with the sheriff’s or chief’s written approval, are now certified by LESB. They must meet Board training standards, pass fingerprint checks with the same conviction bars as officers, keep their employment, approval, and annual training, and pass an annual handgun qualification. The Board “may” decertify them on the same grounds as officers, and they must self-report felony and domestic-violence convictions within 30 days. The use-of-force standard, the duty to report noncompliant force, and the duty to intervene in 175.44 now apply to certified tactical EMS professionals. Intentional failure to report, and intentional failure to intervene or to report an intervention, carry a fine of up to $1,000, up to 6 months of imprisonment, or both; the force standard itself carries no criminal penalty. The act also lets them carry firearms in areas where firearms are otherwise prohibited. — **For officers:** Certified tactical medics on your team have the same duty to intervene and report as you do. — [2023 Wis. Act 218](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/related/acts/218.pdf)[Wis. Stat. ch. 175](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/175.pdf)

## Not yet in force and pending

- **LESB rule update:** scope statement SS 076-25 proposes revising LES 1 to 6 and 9 to match 2013 Act 214, 2021 Act 82 (decertification procedures, including review of resignations in lieu of termination), and 2023 Acts 218 and 227. No clearinghouse rule had been assigned as of October 19, 2026. The scope statement expires May 10, 2028. [SS 076-25](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/scope_statements/all/076_25)

These 2025 session bills failed to pass under Senate Joint Resolution 1 on March 23, 2026: AB 738 and SB 730 (more decertification grounds, a model use-of-force policy, and de-escalation), AB 441 and SB 444 (officers must identify themselves when arresting or detaining), AB 843 and SB 846 (U.S. citizenship for officers), and AB 1094 and SB 1067 (a crime to share an officer’s personal information to intimidate or harass).

## Checked and unchanged

- Wis. Stat. 165.85(3)(cm) decertification grounds for officers, the (4)(em) employment-file waiver, the 175.44 use-of-force and duty-to-intervene text for officers, 66.0511, and 175.47: the substance comes from 2021 Acts 75, 82, and 48 and earlier. The only 2023–2026 changes were the tactical EMS additions and a repeal note on 66.0511(4).
- Wis. Admin. Code LES 1 to 9: no 2023–2026 rulemaking. Each chapter was republished in November 2024 without a new history entry.
- 2023 Wis. Acts 220 (peer-support privilege), 223 (informant identities in public records), 2025 Wis. Acts 45 (a Department of Justice case-data dashboard), 55 (impersonating officers), and 196 (sheriff and undersheriff administration): none changes certification or decertification.
- Not counted: 2023 Wis. Act 227 (agency reimbursement for annual recertification training raised from $160 to $320 per officer) and the 2023 and 2025 budget acts (funding only).