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State Reform Profile

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has the worst Black/white incarceration disparity nationally. Reform efforts have been limited.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE71/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
391
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$36K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
62%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
12.8×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
28
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
6
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

WI Overall391
National Avg568
Black (est.)3,003
White (est.)68

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

62%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$36K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

2 initiatives

SB 3 – Juvenile Justice ReformView full details →

Reduced youth incarceration by expanding community supervision options.

PassedYouth2017
AltReform Score72/100

Alternatives to Incarceration GrantsView full details →

State funding for community-based diversion programs.

ActiveDiversion2021
AltReform Score68/100

Proposed Initiatives

1 pending

Racial Equity Sentencing InitiativeView full details →

Would require racial impact statements for new sentencing legislation.

ProposedSentencing2023
AltReform Score74/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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