Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 939.03 (2026)

Jurisdiction of state over crime

✓ current as of July 2026

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939.03939.03 Jurisdiction of state over crime.

939.03(1)(1) A person is subject to prosecution and punishment under the law of this state if any of the following applies:

939.03(1)(a)(a) The person commits a crime, any of the constituent elements of which takes place in this state.

939.03(1)(b)(b) While out of this state, the person aids and abets, conspires with, or advises, incites, commands, or solicits another to commit a crime in this state.

939.03(1)(c)(c) While out of this state, the person does an act with intent that it cause in this state a consequence set forth in a section defining a crime.

939.03(1)(d)(d) While out of this state, the person steals and subsequently brings any of the stolen property into this state.

939.03(1)(e)(e) The person violates s. 943.201 or 943.203 and the victim, at the time of the violation, is an individual who resides in this state, a deceased individual who resided in this state immediately before his or her death, or an entity, as defined in s. 943.203 (1) (a), that is located in this state.

939.03(1)(f)(f) The person violates s. 943.89 and the matter or thing is deposited for delivery within this state or is received or taken within this state.

939.03(1)(g)(g) The person violates s. 943.90 and the transmission is from within this state, the transmission is received within this state, or it is reasonably foreseeable that the transmission will be accessed by a person or machine within this state.

939.03(2)(2) In this section “state” includes area within the boundaries of the state, and area over which the state exercises concurrent jurisdiction under article IX, section 1, of the constitution.

939.03 HistoryHistory: 1983 a. 192; 1993 a. 486; 2003 a. 36; 2005 a. 212.

939.03 AnnotationDiscussing jurisdiction over a crime committed by a Menominee Indian while on the Menominee Indian Reservation. State ex rel. Pyatskowit v. Montour, 72 Wis. 2d 277, 240 N.W.2d 186 (1976).

939.03 AnnotationTreaties between the federal government and Menominee tribe do not deprive the state of criminal subject matter jurisdiction over a crime committed by a Menominee outside the reservation. Sturdevant v. State, 76 Wis. 2d 247, 251 N.W.2d 50 (1977).

939.03 AnnotationTrial courts do not have subject matter jurisdiction to convict defendants under unconstitutionally vague statutes. State ex rel. Skinkis v. Treffert, 90 Wis. 2d 528, 280 N.W.2d 316 (Ct. App. 1979).

939.03 AnnotationA fisherman who violated Minnesota and Wisconsin fishing laws while standing on the Minnesota bank of the Mississippi River was subject to Wisconsin prosecution. State v. Nelson, 92 Wis. 2d 855, 285 N.W.2d 924 (Ct. App. 1979).

939.03 AnnotationThe state has exclusive jurisdiction over second-offense drunk driving. A second offender may not be charged as a first offender under a local ordinance. County of Walworth v. Rohner, 108 Wis. 2d 713, 324 N.W.2d 682 (1982). But see City of Eau Claire v. Booth, 2016 WI 65, 370 Wis. 2d 595, 882 N.W.2d 738, 15-0869.

939.03 AnnotationAn unlawful arrest does not deprive a court of personal jurisdiction over a defendant. State v. Smith, 131 Wis. 2d 220, 388 N.W.2d 601 (1986).

939.03 AnnotationJurisdiction in a criminal nonsupport action under s. 948.22 does not require that the child to be supported be a resident of Wisconsin during the charged period. State v. Gantt, 201 Wis. 2d 206, 548 N.W.2d 134 (Ct. App. 1996), 95-2469.

939.03 AnnotationObjections to subject matter jurisdiction that turn on a question of law may not be waived by a guilty plea, but objections to subject matter jurisdiction based on a factual dispute do not survive. State v. Bratrud, 204 Wis. 2d 445, 555 N.W.2d 662 (Ct. App. 1995), 94-3402.

939.03 AnnotationA trial court did not lose subject matter jurisdiction over a count in a criminal complaint when an oral amendment of the count did not include one of the elements of the new offense. State v. Diehl, 205 Wis. 2d 1, 555 N.W.2d 174 (Ct. App. 1996), 95-2444.

939.03 AnnotationA sentencing court is accorded incidental powers necessary to carry out its judicial functions and may modify an improper sentence, but it is not competent to enter a money judgment against the state for the recovery of improperly collected restitution under an improper sentence. State v. Minniecheske, 223 Wis. 2d 493, 590 N.W.2d 17 (Ct. App. 1998), 98-1369.

939.03 AnnotationFor purposes of jurisdictional analysis, the defendant father’s concealment in Canada of a child taken from the child’s mother in Wisconsin was inseparable from the consequences of the concealment in Wisconsin, thus giving a Wisconsin court jurisdiction under sub. (1) (c) to try the defendant for a violation of s. 948.31. State v. Inglin, 224 Wis. 2d 764, 592 N.W.2d 666 (Ct. App. 1999), 97-3091.

939.03 AnnotationThis section relates to both personal and territorial jurisdiction. When a trial court validly acquired territorial jurisdiction over the charged crime, it could not lose jurisdiction over a lesser-included crime. State v. Randle, 2002 WI App 116, 252 Wis. 2d 743, 647 N.W.2d 324, 01-1448.

939.03 AnnotationIf there is no serious evidentiary dispute that the trial court has territorial jurisdiction, a special instruction on territorial jurisdiction need not be given to the jury. A person may be prosecuted for doing an act outside this state that has a criminally proscribed consequence within the state. State v. Brown, 2003 WI App 34, 260 Wis. 2d 125, 659 N.W.2d 110, 02-1000.

939.03 AnnotationThe constituent elements of an offense under sub. (1) (a) are those elements of the criminal offense that the state is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in the prosecution of the offense. A constituent element of a criminal offense may be either the wrongful deed that comprises the physical component or the state of mind that the prosecution must prove that a defendant had. For first-degree homicide, sub. (1) (a) is satisfied upon proof that the defendant committed an act in Wisconsin manifesting the intent to kill. State v. Anderson, 2005 WI 54, 280 Wis. 2d 104, 695 N.W.2d 731, 03-3478.

939.03 AnnotationAge limits on criminal, juvenile delinquency, and juvenile in need of protection or services (JIPS) matters both define and restrict how a circuit court may address the specific case before the court, and not whether a circuit court can hear criminal, juvenile delinquency, or JIPS matters generally. Therefore, age limits are an issue of statutory competency, rather than subject matter jurisdiction. Unlike challenges to subject matter jurisdiction, challenges to statutory competency may be forfeited or waived. State v. Sanders, 2018 WI 51, 381 Wis. 2d 522, 912 N.W.2d 16, 15-2328.

939.03 AnnotationA defendant’s age at the time the defendant is charged, not the defendant’s age at the time the defendant commits the underlying conduct, determines whether the circuit court has statutory competency to hear the case as a criminal, juvenile delinquency, or juvenile in need of protection or services matter. Consequently, the circuit court in this case possessed statutory competency to hear the defendant’s case as a criminal matter because the defendant was an adult at the time he was charged for conduct he committed before his tenth birthday. State v. Sanders, 2018 WI 51, 381 Wis. 2d 522, 912 N.W.2d 16, 15-2328.

939.03 AnnotationIn this case, the circuit court possessed territorial jurisdiction under sub. (1) (c) because the defendant’s failure to update his sex offender registration had a criminal consequence in this state pursuant to s. 301.45 (6). The general criminal-law rule is that a crime involving a failure to act is committed at the place where the act is required to be performed. In this case, the defendant’s failure to update his registration with Wisconsin authorities quite obviously had a consequence that is prohibited by this state’s criminal law, thereby making territorial jurisdiction appropriate under sub. (1) (c). That the defendant’s failure arises from his moving within another state—rather than within, to, or from Wisconsin—does nothing to change this obvious consequence. State v. Triebold, 2021 WI App 13, 396 Wis. 2d 176, 955 N.W.2d 415, 19-1209.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 18 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1973–2024 · leading case: State v. Anderson, 2005 WI 54 (Wis. 2005).

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State v. Anderson, 2005 WI 54 (Wis. 2005). · cites it 90× “ISSUES ¶2 The court of appeals certified two questions to this court: 1) Whether the mens rea component of first-degree intentional homicide constitutes a "constituent element" of that crime within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 939.03 (1)(a) (1997-98), [1] such that the state has…”

State v. Randle, 2002 WI App 116 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 33× “" *750 [2] ¶ 10. Although, at the trial court level, the parties disputed whether WIS.”

State v. Brown, 2003 WI App 34 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 18× “The State first argues that Wisconsin properly exercised its territorial jurisdiction under Wis. Stat. § 939.03 (1)(b) because a "constituent element" of each crime of which Brown was convicted undisputedly took place in this state.”

State v. West, 571 N.W.2d 196 (Wis. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 11× “West argues that the *472 trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction with regard to this count, because the requirements of § 939.03, Stats., were not met. Section 939.”

State v. Inglin, 592 N.W.2d 666 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 14× “, provides: "A person is subject to prosecution and punishment under the law of this state if: While out of this state, the person does an act with intent that it cause in this state a consequence set forth in a section defining a crime.”

Tobin Mueller v. Rick Raemisch, 740 F.3d 1128 (7th Cir. 2014). · cites it 2× “” Wis. Stat. § 939.03 (l)(e). This provision applies straightforwardly to the registration requirement, because a nonresident’s failing to comply has a criminal consequence in Wisconsin — namely a failure to register with the state’s Department of Corrections.”

State v. Gantt, 548 N.W.2d 134 (Wis. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 6× “The supreme court rejected the argument, reasoning that the general criminal jurisdiction statute, § 939.03, Stats., which grants jurisdiction to Wisconsin courts for prosecution of acts undertaken in *210 other states which have "a criminally proscribed consequence within…”

State v. Culver, 918 N.W.2d 103 (Wis. Ct. App. 2018). “It presumes that a criminal statute itself must identify what element or circumstance will invoke the territorial jurisdiction of a Wisconsin court.”

State v. West, 512 N.W.2d 207 (Wis. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 3× “She notes that sec. 939.03(1), Stats., provides in part: "A person is subject to prosecution and punishment under the law of this state if: (a) He commits a crime, any of the constituent elements of which takes place in this state _" Section 939.”

State v. Olexa, 402 N.W.2d 733 (Wis. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “Section 939.03(l)(a), Stats. The action was commenced pursuant to the methods prescribed by sec.”

Rios v. State, 733 P.2d 242 (Wyo. 1987). “While such may be the law of those states, it is not the law in Wisconsin where, as outlined in sec. 939.03, Stats., a person may be prosecuted for doing an act outside this state which has a criminally proscribed consequence within the state.”

Sturdevant v. State, 251 N.W.2d 50 (Wis. 1977). “” Jurisdiction of the state over crime is expressly provided for in sec. 939.03, Stats.: “939.03 Jurisdiction of state over crime.”

Show all 18 citing cases →

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(1) — 4 cases

State v. Randle, 2002 WI App 116 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002). “" *750 [2] ¶ 10. Although, at the trial court level, the parties disputed whether WIS.”

State v. Brown, 2003 WI App 34 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003). “The State first argues that Wisconsin properly exercised its territorial jurisdiction under Wis. Stat. § 939.03 (1)(b) because a "constituent element" of each crime of which Brown was convicted undisputedly took place in this state.”

State v. West, 512 N.W.2d 207 (Wis. Ct. App. 1993). “She notes that sec. 939.03(1), Stats., provides in part: "A person is subject to prosecution and punishment under the law of this state if: (a) He commits a crime, any of the constituent elements of which takes place in this state _" Section 939.”

State v. Holder, 2011 WI App 116 (Wis. Ct. App. 2011).

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(1)(a) — 4 cases

State v. Anderson, 2005 WI 54 (Wis. 2005). “ISSUES ¶2 The court of appeals certified two questions to this court: 1) Whether the mens rea component of first-degree intentional homicide constitutes a "constituent element" of that crime within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 939.03 (1)(a) (1997-98), [1] such that the state has…”

State v. Orlando Pierre Eaton (Wis. Ct. App. 2024).

State v. Jeffrey L. Blabaum (Wis. Ct. App. 2022).

State v. Todd N. Triebold, 2021 WI App 13 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(1)(c) — 1 case

State v. Todd N. Triebold, 2021 WI App 13 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(2) — 1 case

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(5) — 1 case

State v. James A. Jones, 2021 WI App 15 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(l)(a) — 2 cases

State v. Olexa, 402 N.W.2d 733 (Wis. Ct. App. 1987). “Section 939.03(l)(a), Stats. The action was commenced pursuant to the methods prescribed by sec.”

— Wis. Stat. § 939.03(l)(c) — 2 cases

State v. Inglin, 592 N.W.2d 666 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999). “, provides: "A person is subject to prosecution and punishment under the law of this state if: While out of this state, the person does an act with intent that it cause in this state a consequence set forth in a section defining a crime.”

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