968.075(1)(a): What Counts as Domestic Abuse in Wisconsin

Under Wisconsin Statute 968.075(1)(a), what counts as domestic abuse in Wisconsin is a specific list: an intentional act that causes physical pain, injury, or illness; an intentional act that impairs someone’s physical condition; a first, second, or third-degree sexual assault; or a physical act that makes a reasonable person fear any of those things is about to happen. The conduct only qualifies as “domestic” when it occurs between adults in one of three defined relationships. Once it fits, a chain of consequences follows that does not apply to ordinary assault cases.¹

The Four Kinds of Conduct That Qualify

The first category is the intentional infliction of physical pain, physical injury, or illness. Intent is the key. An accidental bump during an argument does not qualify; a deliberate shove, strike, or act meant to make someone sick does. Visible marks help prove the case, but they are not required. Pain alone counts, and it can be established through the victim’s testimony, medical records, or clinical observations of distress.¹

The second category is the intentional impairment of someone’s physical condition. This reaches harm that interferes with how the body functions rather than just how it feels in the moment: difficulty breathing, impaired movement, reduced hearing, prolonged dizziness. Strangulation is the clearest example. It may leave no visible marks and no sharp pain, yet it directly impairs breathing and can produce neurological symptoms long after the incident.

The third category is sexual assault. Section 968.075 incorporates Wisconsin’s general sexual assault statute, 940.225, at the first, second, and third-degree levels. Each degree covers nonconsensual sexual contact or intercourse under different circumstances, from assaults aggravated by weapons or great bodily harm down to third-degree intercourse without consent where no aggravating factor applies.² Marriage or cohabitation does not create implied consent. The same consent standards that apply between strangers apply within the relationship.

The fourth category is a physical act that would cause a reasonable person to fear that one of the first three types of harm is about to happen. No injury has to occur. The statute uses the word “imminent,” and that word does the work. A vague threat about future consequences does not qualify because it does not point to harm right now. Pulling back a fist, grabbing a weapon, cornering someone, or lunging at them can. The test is whether a reasonable person in the victim’s position would believe harm was about to land, not whether the accused actually meant to follow through.¹

The Relationships That Make It Domestic

The conduct only triggers 968.075 when it happens between adults in one of three relationships:¹

Current or former spouses.
Current or former cohabitants, meaning adults who live together now or lived together at some point in the past.
Adults who share a child in common. They need not live together or ever have been romantically involved.

Both people must be adults. One gap matters here: a dating relationship where the couple has never lived together and has no child in common does not qualify under 968.075. That does not mean the incident has no legal remedy. Wisconsin’s civil injunction statute, 813.12, uses a broader definition that reaches dating partners, adult family members, household members, and caregivers, and it adds stalking and criminal damage to the victim’s property to the list of qualifying conduct.³ Which statute applies determines which legal avenues are open.

Mandatory Arrest Once It Qualifies

When conduct fits the definition, Wisconsin removes much of the usual police discretion. An officer must arrest the person if two things are true: the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person is committing or has committed domestic abuse that is also a crime, and at least one aggravating factor exists. Those factors are a reasonable belief that continued abuse is likely, evidence of physical injury to the victim, or identification of the person as the predominant aggressor.¹

The statute uses “shall.” Officers do not have the option to issue a warning and walk away when the conditions are met. If the incident is reported later rather than witnessed, the mandatory arrest duty applies only when the report reaches police within 28 days.

Wisconsin also discourages arresting both people. The statute says it is “generally not appropriate” to arrest anyone besides the predominant aggressor, defined as the most significant aggressor rather than necessarily the one who struck first. Officers weigh the history of abuse between the parties, witness statements, the relative severity of injuries, how much each person appears to fear the other, any threats of future harm, and whether either party acted in self-defense.¹ This analysis can cut both ways. Someone who called 911 for help has sometimes ended up arrested when the evidence pointed to them as the predominant aggressor, and someone who fought back in self-defense is meant to be protected from arrest alongside their abuser.

The 72-Hour No-Contact Rule

After an arrest for a domestic abuse incident, a mandatory no-contact period begins immediately. For 72 hours, the arrested person must stay away from the victim’s residence and any location the victim is temporarily occupying, and must not contact the victim or have anyone else contact the victim for them. The only exceptions are communication through attorneys or law enforcement.¹

Violating the order is a separate crime with a fine of up to $10,000, up to nine months in jail, or both. That penalty stands even if the underlying charge is later dismissed. The victim can sign a written waiver lifting the no-contact requirement at any point during the 72 hours, and law enforcement agencies must have a waiver form available. Until that waiver is signed, any contact is itself a criminal act.

Enhanced Penalties for Repeat Offenders

Section 939.621 raises the stakes for people who come back through the system. A person is a “domestic abuse repeater” either by committing a new act of domestic abuse during the 72-hour no-contact period after an arrest, or by having two or more domestic abuse convictions in the ten years before the current offense. The victim in the current case does not have to be the same person as the victim in the earlier incidents.⁴

When the enhancement applies, the maximum prison sentence for the current crime can be increased by up to two years. It can also convert a misdemeanor into a felony, which reaches well past the sentence itself into employment, housing, voting rights, and firearm ownership.

Federal Firearm Consequences

A Wisconsin domestic abuse conviction can trigger a federal firearm prohibition that lasts long after the state sentence ends. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), anyone convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” in any court is prohibited from possessing, shipping, or receiving firearms or ammunition.⁵

The federal definition requires that the offense involved the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, and that the offender had a qualifying relationship with the victim: spouse, former spouse, co-parent, cohabitant, former cohabitant, or someone in a current or recent dating relationship. The conviction does not qualify if the person lacked counsel without a knowing waiver, or if the conviction has been expunged, set aside, or pardoned.⁶ Wisconsin courts are not required to explain federal consequences at sentencing, so a plea to a misdemeanor battery arising from a domestic argument can carry a lifetime federal firearm bar that was never mentioned in court.

When 813.12 Is the Better Route

968.075 drives the criminal side. If you are not seeking an arrest and prosecution, or if your relationship does not fit the three categories above, the civil injunction process under 813.12 is a separate path. A petition can be filed without a police report or a criminal charge. A judge or circuit court commissioner can issue a temporary restraining order quickly, and after a hearing the court can issue a longer-term injunction requiring the respondent to stay away from the victim’s home and other locations, stop all contact unless the victim consents in writing, and refrain from harming or removing household pets.³ For a dating partner who falls outside 968.075, this is often the statute that matters.

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 968.075 – Domestic Abuse Incidents; Arrest and Prosecution
2
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 940.225 – Sexual Assault
3
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.12 – Domestic Abuse Restraining Orders and Injunctions
4
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 939.621 – Increased Penalty for Certain Domestic Abuse Offenses
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
6
Legal Information Institute. Definition: Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence from 18 USC 921(a)(33)