A courtroom and a judge's gavel. (Getty Images creative)
A Dane County judge ruled Friday that lawmakers could not block administrative rules that had been through the rulemaking process and received approval from Gov. Tony Evers.
Evers and the Republican-led Legislature have been fighting over administrative rulemaking abilities for years. The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided in its July 2025 Evers v. Marklein II ruling that statutes allowing a legislative committee to pause or suspend administrative rules indefinitely were unconstitutional.
Following that decision, Evers started taking steps to implement 12 administrative rules he had previously approved, without getting sign-off from legislative committees. Republican lawmakers responded by instructing the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) not to publish any rule that hadn’t gone through a review by the Legislature.
Evers sued in Sept. 2025 to block the lawmakers’ action.
Judge Nia Trammel granted Evers’ request for a declaration that LRB publish all administrative rules that have gone through the rulemaking procedures and have been approved by the governor.
In the ruling, Trammel said a rule can go into effect because there isn’t a statute prohibiting promulgation of a rule even if a standing committee has not completed a review and if one did exist it would be “facially unconstitutional.”
Trammel cited the state Supreme Court’s Marklein II decision, which found that “the ability of a ten-person committee to halt or interrupt the passage of a rule, which would ordinarily be required to be presented to the governor as a bill, is simply incompatible with Articles IV and V of the Wisconsin Constitution.”
“For the same reason, if the Court found that the standing committee had an ability to pause promulgation for up to sixty days, if not possibly months, it would also be unconstitutional,” Trammel wrote.
Evers said in a statement that the decision is a win for Wisconsin and “our efforts to continue restoring the balance of power in Wisconsin.”
“For far too long, the Republican Legislature had a gerrymandered majority that enabled them to undermine our constitutional separation of powers and give themselves outsized influence and power over state government,” Evers said. “A handful of lawmakers should not be able to singlehandedly bring the state to a standstill and stop good work from happening on behalf of the people of our state.”
Gov. Tony Evers' announcement, shortly before he leaves office, that he will begin commuting sentences of people imprisoned in Wisconsin set off a scramble among incarcerated people and their advocates | Getty Images
Gov. Tony Evers issued two executive orders this month that make the commutation of prison sentences available again in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Executive Order 287, creating the Governor’s Commutation Advisory Board and Executive Order 288, creating a Juvenile Life Sentence Process, open up new opportunities for people to get out of prison and reestablish their lives in the community.
A commutation, like a pardon (a type of civil forgiveness with some rights restored), is authorized in the Wisconsin Constitution under the governor’s executive clemency authority. Commutations can shorten terms of incarceration or place applicants on extended supervision, or they may simply push up the date of a parole board meeting, making an applicant eligible for parole sooner. Unlike a pardon, a commutation doesn’t erase the record of the offense.
Nine-month window of opportunity
With Evers leaving office on Jan. 4, the next governor can continue the commutation process, including maintaining the Commutation Advisory Board that holds hearings on commutation applications and makes recommendations to the governor — or the next governor could amend the process or even decide not to offer commutations at all.
Because of Evers’ imminent departure, there is a sense of urgency among people in prison and their advocates to submit commutation applications as soon as possible, before the first commutation hearings are held in June.
In a Substack post, Eau Claire attorney David Carlson, a formerly incarcerated advocate for people who are leaving prison, wrote about the significance of the executive orders but also a sense of urgency to take advantage of what might be a unique opportunity.
“There are moments in governance when an action is less about its immediate effect and more about what it makes possible,” he wrote. “Governor Tony Evers’s Executive Orders 287 and 288 fall squarely into that category. They do not resolve the issue of excessive incarceration in Wisconsin, nor do they create a permanent commutation system. What they do is create a window, and that window is narrow.”
He noted the commutation board has a “functional runway of approximately nine months.”
“The question is not whether these executive orders are meaningful – they are – but whether Wisconsin will use this time strategically or allow it to pass as another short-lived initiative that never reaches its full potential.”
Carlson encouraged advocates to engage candidates running for the governor’s seat if they “intend to continue, expand or institutionalize this commutation process,” and he also discouraged applicants from waiting until after the November election to apply.
“These are not applications that can be assembled hastily or corrected later,” Carlson wrote. “They must be done correctly the first time and must be started immediately. Individuals seeking commutation must begin now, and advocates must assist in building strong, complete submissions.”
Carlson also notes that the first cases heard before the commutation board are very important because how “the process is perceived” will impact the future of commutations in Wisconsin.
How to apply
On the governor’s online “Commutation Information” page there are commutation applications available for both standard commutations and juvenile life sentence commutations.
Juvenile commutation is only available to those who were 19 years of age or younger at the time of their conviction. The age of conviction is critical, not the age of the defendant when the offense was charged.
The juvenile commutation is also restricted to those who were sentenced as adults and received a life sentence or 39 years or more of incarceration.
Since 2022, legislation has been introduced but hasn’t gained traction, which would have offered adjustments of sentences for “an individual who committed the crime for which the individual is being sentenced before he or she turned 18 years old,” but was charged as an adult. That legislation would have allowed those who had not been involved in a death to apply for an adjustment at the 15th year of incarceration, and for those who had committed a crime involving a death to apply at 20 years.
The proposed legislation and Executive Order 288 both reflect the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Miller vs. Alabama, that a sentence of life without parole for a juvenile is unconstitutional, recognizing mitigating factors for youth due to both intellectual and emotional development.
The eligibility requirements for the two commutation applications share five specific conditions:
Applicants must currently be incarcerated in a correctional institution for a Wisconsin conviction with more than one year of the incarceration term remaining.
They must have served at least half of their incarceration term or at least 20 years of a life sentence.
They must not have any unresolved criminal charges or outstanding warrants in any jurisdiction.
There cannot be any incidents of violent misconduct within the last five years of current incarceration.
The commutation is not for any of the following offenses:
* Sexual assault.
* Physical abuse of a child.
* Trafficking of a child.
* Incest.
* Soliciting a child for prostitution.
An additional condition for the general commutation application requires the applicant not to be serving a sentence for “a sex offense or be required to register as a sex offender (either currently or upon release).”
Commutation applicants are encouraged to obtain assistance, and the application even lists three organizations that provide free or low-cost services: Legal Action of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Justice Center, and Legal Assistance to Incarcerated People Project.
Rachel Fox Armstrong of Legal Action of Wisconsin, said her office has been “inundated by calls for assistance” since the governor issued his orders.
“Unfortunately, our limited resources mean we will only be able to help a very small portion of those who call us for assistance with commutation,” she said. “This process is new and developing. We know that the legal community, advocacy groups, the Department of Corrections, and the Evers administration will need to work together to ensure that the many excellent clemency candidates are able to have their applications submitted and thoughtfully considered.”
Questions about the process
During aSaturday, April 11, webinar conducted by the nonprofit group Forward Justice Wisconsin on commutations, participants expressed concern about how “violent misconduct” or “violent behavior “ should be defined for the purpose of the application.
Another question addressed the requirement that certified copies of each criminal case, including sentencing transcripts, be obtained and submitted, but people confined to prison in Wisconsin must have their legal mail copied and the original destroyed. That raises the question: If the original is destroyed, how can the certification be preserved?
Other concerns raised included:
*Older cases where there might not be any certified records available.
* Challenging why a question about “any other interactions with law enforcement” is relevant, as well as “prior arrest that did not lead to charges, deferred judgments, criminal charges that were later dropped or dismissed, or instances where you have been the subject of criminal investigations.”
*Whether a restraining order that was later dismissed should be required to be disclosed.
Issues raised in the April 11 webinar were forwarded by the Wisconsin Examiner to the Governor’s Commutation Advisory Board for a response, but none were available at the time of publication.
Notifying the courts and victims
Three weeks before a commutation hearing, each applicant must provide a notice to the circuit court and the district attorney’s office of the court where offenses were processed. The chair of the Commutation Board can, at his or her own discretion, forward an application directly to the governor without a “non-binding recommendation and without a hearing or any executive action of the board.
Applicants are also “strongly encouraged” to provide a copy of the application to the clerk of courts and the DA.
At the April 11 webinar, participants suggested that applicants make four sets of each application: the original for the commutation board, a copy for the applicant, a copy for the circuit court judge who heard their case and another for the DA.
All these copies of the commutation application raise another issue: the cost of just obtaining the original certified documents, supporting documents, the application form and copies. Brittany Lee, one of the webinar presenters, noted that certified court documents alone could cost between $60 and $200.
The executive orders also require victim notification, but that is the responsibility of the governor’s office, at the “discretion and direction” of the commutation board and the Office of Victim Services and Programs. “Reasonable attempts” should be made to publish a notice three weeks before the hearing to be published in newspapers in the county where the offenses were committed.
The staff reviewing the commutation application will also collect additional information, perform a background check, and may seek “additional input from the judge, district attorney, defense attorney, and victims”.
According to the application, the review of each submission may take over a year to complete.
The Wisconsin State Capitol reflected in the glass windows of Park Bank on the Capitol Square in Madison. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
What are the odds the soon-to-retire Republican leaders of the state Legislature are seriously considering Gov. Tony Evers’ call to end partisan gerrymandering?
Evers called the special session that began and ended with no action this week, asking legislators to take up a constitutional amendment to ban the practice of drawing voting maps that give a disproportionate advantage to one political party.
Legislators didn’t exactly refuse — they’ve kicked the can down the road, adjourning temporarily until later this month. As Baylor Spears reports, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu explained that legislators need to “gain public input in order to make an informed decision on how to proceed.” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Majority Leader Tyler August said they want to have more discussions with Evers to reach a “transparent and balanced solution that reflects the interests of all Wisconsinites.”
Or maybe they just want to run out the clock, do nothing and then blame the governor for their failure to act.
After all, President Donald Trump, the Republicans’ national leader, has been strong-arming GOP legislators in red states to hold extraordinary mid-decade redistricting sessions to draw him some extra seats to shore up an unpopular Republican House majority. Wisconsin Republicans would be swimming against the tide if they made their last act in office a good-government effort to lock in fair maps.
Giving up power is not exactly on brand for Wisconsin Republicans. These are the same legislators who drew themselves into the most partisan gerrymandered districts in the country back in 2010. When it came time to draw another round of maps after the 2020 census, they gathered copious public input, holding hearings in which an overwhelming majority of voters told them that they wanted fair maps, and then ignored the public and gerrymandered the maps again. Only after the state Supreme Court declared those maps unconstitutional did they relent and accept 50/50 maps that lean slightly toward Republicans majorities.
Now they’re quitting in droves rather than work in a Legislature where they’ve lost the disproportionate power they conferred on themselves through gerrymandering.
Still, staring down the possibility of Democratic trifecta control of government, it’s possible Republicans could take the long view and try to protect their 50/50 stake before the other party has a shot at redrawing the districts.
Then again, Republicans have shown very little appetite for that kind of sensible, good-government approach. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week, Republican legislative leaders are paying private attorneys $550 per hour in taxpayer money to defend their practice of hiring private attorneys at the taxpayers’ expense.
This freewheeling expenditure of your tax dollars follows a lawsuit filed by the public interest law firm Law Forward in February challenging the use of expensive private attorneys by GOP leaders. That practice started in the lame duck session after Evers was first elected, when Republican legislative leaders began frantically grabbing powers from the new Democratic administration.
“It’s all about an unwillingness to exist within the bounds of checks and balances,” says Jeff Mandell of Law Forward. “It smacks of a sense that the Legislature, and particularly its leadership, is beyond accountability.”
That kind of arrogance is on its way out, along with the legislative leaders who, for more than a decade, treated government as their private club, hoarding power and ignoring the will of the voters. The best way to make sure it never returns is to permanently guarantee fair maps.
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