On Nov. 20, Gov. Tony Evers signed into law two bills making changes to Wisconsin procedures for service of certain documents. The bipartisan bills, authored by Rep. Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) and Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison), passed the Legislature earlier in November.
- AB 58 allows personal service of a notice of claim against a state, officer, employee, or agent. Previously, Wis. Stat. § 893.82(5) required notice of claim by certified mail in order to bring such an action. AB 58 comes after the 2016 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision Sorenson v. Batchelder,which held that a plaintiff who had delivered a notice of claim to the attorney general via personal service did not strictly comply with the law, thus invalidating the claim. AB 58, a fix to that case, was signed into law as 2019 Act 29.
- AB 59 allows certain pleadings and other papers to be served by e-mail, if the attorney has consented in writing to accept service by e-mail. The bill does not allow service by e-mail for initial pleadings. AB 59 was signed into law as 2019 Act 30.