SCOW to determine whether failing to make examiner’s report accessible to defense counsel within 48 hours of final Chapter 51 hearing denies circuit court competence to proceed.
Outagamie County v. M.J.B., 2024AP250, petition for review of a published decision of the court of appeals, granted 10/6/25; case activity
SCOW granted Outagamie County’s petition for review to address whether an examiner’s report filed less than 48 hours in advance of the final hearing is inaccessible for purposes of Wis. Stat. § 51.20(10)(b), which provides that “[c]ounsel for the person to be committed shall have access to all psychiatric and other reports 48 hours in advance of the final hearing.” The COA held that failing to make expert reports accessible within 48 hours is central to the statutory scheme of ch. 51 and the county failing to comply with the deadline denied the circuit court competency to proceed with a final hearing. (¶¶ 27-28).
As we discussed in our post on the COA decision, this case has a convoluted history where the COA withdrew its original opinion and reissued the decision in October, in light of the County’s original petition for review, to clarify that the statute does not require the report to be “filed” within 48 hours of the final hearing, but only “accessible” to defense counsel. The issue presented was considered by SCOW in 2020 in S.N.W., but determined to be improvidently granted. M.J.B. provides SCOW another opportunity to settle this recurring issue in ch. 51 litigation.