Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 973.02 (2026)
Place of imprisonment when none expressed
✓ current as of July 2026
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973.02973.02 Place of imprisonment when none expressed. Except as provided in s. 973.032, if a statute authorizes imprisonment for its violation but does not prescribe the place of imprisonment, a sentence of less than one year shall be to the county jail, a sentence of more than one year shall be to the Wisconsin state prisons and the minimum under the indeterminate sentence law shall be one year, and a sentence of one year may be to either the Wisconsin state prisons or the county jail. In any proper case, sentence and commitment may be to the department or any house of correction or other institution as provided by law or to detention under s. 973.03 (4).
973.02 AnnotationThe legislature is presumed to have been aware of many existing statutes carrying sentences of one year or less with no place of confinement specified when it enacted the predecessor to this section as ch. 154, laws of 1945. State ex rel. McDonald v. Circuit Court, 100 Wis. 2d 569, 302 N.W.2d 462 (1981).
973.02 AnnotationCriminal defendants who receive consecutive sentences that in the aggregate exceed one year, but individually are all less than one year, should be incarcerated in county jails rather than the Wisconsin prison system. 78 Atty. Gen. 44.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 21
cases, 1973–2019 · leading case: Law Enf't Standards Bd. v. Vill. of Lyndon Station, 305 N.W.2d 89 (Wis. 1981).
Law Enf't Standards Bd. v. Vill. of Lyndon Station, 305 N.W.2d 89 (Wis. 1981). “02 (place of confinement where none is specified) [11] Stats.”
State v. Clayton W. Williams, 2014 WI 64 (Wis. 2014). “The graduated structure would impose greater punishment for more Wis. Stat. § 973.02 . 24 No. 2011AP2868-CR serious offenses.”
State v. Cole, 2003 WI 59 (Wis. 2003). “The parties then dispute whether a one-year minimum sentence can be bifurcated to include a nine-month term of confinément and remain a sentence to a "state prison" under Wis. Stat. § 973.02 (a sentence of less than one year cannot be to a state prison).”
State Ex Rel. McDonald v. Circuit Court for Douglas Cnty., 302 N.W.2d 462 (Wis. 1981). “27, the predecessor to sec. 973.02, Stats., as Chapter 154, Laws of 1945.”
State v. Foellmi, 205 N.W.2d 144 (Wis. 1973). “ly sentence an individual to a term of one year or more in the state reformatory with the intention (at the time of sentencing) of bringing such individual two months thereafter before the court in order to modify the initial sentence, stay such sentence, and grant probation?…”
State Law Enf't Standards Bd. v. Vill. of Lyndon Station, 295 N.W.2d 818 (Wis. Ct. App. 1980). “, was punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than one year or both. Section 939.60, Stats.”
Flint v. City of Milwaukee, 91 F. Supp. 3d 1032 (E.D. Wis. 2015). “Because the statute does not state whether it is a felony or a misdemeanor, one must look to Wis. Stat. § 973.02 which states that if a statute authorizes imprisonment but does not define where the place of imprisonment is, then “a sentence of less than one year shall be to the…”
State v. Szarkowitz, 460 N.W.2d 819 (Wis. Ct. App. 1990). “The term "any victim of the crime" in sec. 973.02(1), Stats., is ambiguous in that it could reasonably be interpreted narrowly so as to encompass only the crime of conviction, or more expansively to encompass the entire "crime" before the court in sentencing proceedings,…”
State v. Baker, 485 N.W.2d 237 (Wis. 1992). “A term of imprisonment of less than one year is served in a county jail, sec. 973.02, Stats. 1985-86, and all crimes not punishable by imprisonment in the Wisconsin state prisons are misdemeanors, sec.”
State v. Larson, 2003 WI App 235 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003). “§ 973.02 provides in pertinent part: "[I]f a statute authorizes imprisonment for its violation but does not prescribe the place of imprisonment, a sentence of less than one year shall be to the county jail, a sentence of more than one year shall be to the Wisconsin state prison .”
Turnpaugh v. State Claims Bd., 2012 WI App 72 (Wis. Ct. App. 2012). “" Even giving the Claims Board the highest level of deference, this conclusion flies in the face of the statute, which, significantly, describes the potential punishment for violating Wis.”
Evers v. Sullivan, 2000 WI App 144 (Wis. Ct. App. 2000). “§ 973.02. By so providing, the legislature has allocated to the state the responsibility for incarcerating persons sentenced to serve more than one year, and to the counties the responsibility for incarcerating those with shorter sentences.”
— Wis. Stat. § 973.02(1) — 1 case
State v. Szarkowitz, 460 N.W.2d 819 (Wis. Ct. App. 1990). “The term "any victim of the crime" in sec. 973.02(1), Stats., is ambiguous in that it could reasonably be interpreted narrowly so as to encompass only the crime of conviction, or more expansively to encompass the entire "crime" before the court in sentencing proceedings,…”
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