Wisconsin Informing the Accused Form SP-4197: Warnings, Refusal, and Rights

The Wisconsin Informing the Accused form, numbered SP-4197, is the printed script a law enforcement officer must read aloud before asking you to give a breath, blood, or urine sample after an impaired-driving arrest. It tells you what test is being requested, what happens if you refuse, what happens if the test comes back over the legal limit, and what additional testing you can ask for. You get a copy on the spot.

When an Officer Reads It to You

Wisconsin Statute 343.305(4) requires the officer to read the form at the moment a chemical test is requested. That request can come up in three situations: you have been arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; you were operating a vehicle in a crash that caused death, great bodily harm, or substantial bodily harm; or you are suspected of operating a commercial motor vehicle after consuming an intoxicating beverage.¹ A lawful arrest must already have happened before the reading begins. For commercial drivers, reasonable suspicion of alcohol use is enough.²

The form exists because of Wisconsin’s implied consent law. By driving on public roads in the state, you have already agreed to provide a sample when lawfully arrested for an impaired-driving offense. SP-4197 makes sure you hear, in plain terms, what that agreement means before you decide whether to comply.

What the Warnings Say

The script covers three points, and they are the three things you need in your head before answering.

First, if you refuse any test the agency requests, your operating privilege will be revoked, you face additional penalties, and the refusal itself can be used against you in court.²

Second, if any test shows more alcohol in your system than the law allows, your operating privilege will be administratively suspended.²

Third, if you take every test the officer requests, you can also take an alternative test the agency provides free of charge, and you can separately arrange a test by a qualified person of your own choosing at your own expense.¹ Both of those options disappear if you refuse the officer’s test. You also don’t get to pick which sample type is requested first. That choice belongs to the agency.

What Happens If You Refuse

A refusal starts a separate penalty track that runs independently from the criminal OWI case. The officer prepares a Notice of Intent to Revoke on the spot.³ The length of the revocation depends on your record, counting prior OWI convictions and refusals within a 10-year window, plus any lifetime homicide-by-intoxicated-use convictions:

Refusing does not necessarily keep officers from getting a sample anyway. Wisconsin courts have held that implied consent is not the only route to collecting evidence. An officer can seek a search warrant from a judge, and with probable cause, the blood draw proceeds whether you agreed or not.⁵

What Happens If You Test Over the Limit

If you take the test and the result shows a prohibited alcohol concentration or a detectable amount of a restricted controlled substance, the officer reports the result to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Your operating privilege is then administratively suspended for six months.⁶ This administrative suspension runs alongside, and independently of, any criminal penalties a court later imposes for the OWI charge itself.

First-time OWI offenders who tested at 0.15 or higher must also install an ignition interlock device for at least 12 months, with the exact length set by the court.⁷ Repeat offenders face the IID requirement regardless of BAC.

You Do Not Get to Call a Lawyer First

Wisconsin does not give you the right to speak with an attorney before deciding whether to submit to the chemical test. The Wisconsin Supreme Court set this out in State v. Neitzel (1980), holding that a driver must promptly take or refuse the test without delay for legal consultation. Repeated requests to call a lawyer can themselves be treated as a refusal, provided the officer tells you no right to counsel exists at that stage.⁵

One narrow exception comes from State v. Verkler (2003). If an officer explicitly or implicitly tells you that you can consult a lawyer before deciding, and you rely on that assurance, a court may later find that your resulting “refusal” was reasonable and should not count against you. The exception hinges entirely on the officer’s own statements creating the confusion.⁵

Your Right to an Additional Test

If you comply with every test the officer requests, two more testing options open up. The agency must offer its own alternative test at no charge, and you can separately arrange for a qualified person of your choosing to administer a test at your own expense. You handle those arrangements yourself.¹ Neither option is available if you refuse what the officer asked for first.

Challenging a Refusal: The 10-Day Deadline

You have 10 days from the date of the notice to request a hearing on a refusal revocation. The request must be in writing and either mailed or hand-delivered to the court whose address appears on the notice. If no request arrives within that window, the revocation takes effect 30 days after the notice was issued.⁸

For an administrative suspension based on a test result showing a prohibited alcohol concentration, the Wisconsin DOT uses different deadlines: 10 business days if the Notice of Intent to Suspend was handed to you at the stop, or 13 business days from the notice date if it was mailed.⁹

A refusal hearing is tightly scoped. The court looks at only three issues: whether the officer had probable cause to believe you were driving impaired, whether the officer properly read you the SP-4197 warnings as required by statute, and whether you actually refused. If a physical disability or disease unrelated to alcohol or drugs made it impossible for you to provide a sample, that counts as a valid reason rather than a refusal. The court must decide within five days after the hearing closes. If all three issues go against you, the revocation stands. If even one goes your way, the revocation is thrown out.⁸

The second issue is why the script matters so much. If the officer skipped warnings, ad-libbed inaccurate information, or never read the form at all, the refusal can be invalidated and the revocation does not go into effect.⁸ Keep the copy of SP-4197 you were handed at the scene. Your attorney will want it.

Driving During a Revocation or Suspension

Wisconsin offers a restricted occupational license that lets you drive to and from work, school, church, or other approved destinations while your regular license is revoked or suspended. It cannot be used for recreational driving or to operate a commercial vehicle, and driving is capped at 12 hours per day and 60 hours per week.¹⁰

How long you wait before applying depends on the situation:

First OWI conviction (alcohol): eligible immediately.
Second or subsequent OWI conviction (alcohol): 45-day wait.
First implied consent refusal: 30-day wait.
Second refusal: 90-day wait.
Third or subsequent refusal: 120-day wait.¹⁰

An SR-22 certificate, a form of high-risk insurance verification, must be on file with the DMV before the occupational license can be issued. You are not eligible if you have never held a Wisconsin driver’s license, if you could simply reinstate your regular license, or if you have two or more revocation or suspension cases from separate incidents within a one-year period.¹⁰

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 343.305 – Tests for Intoxication; Administrative Suspension and Court-ordered Revocation
2
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Wisconsin Department of Transportation Form SP4197 – Informing the Accused
3
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 343.305(10)(b)2 – Tests for Intoxication; Administrative Suspension and Revocation
4
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 343.305(10)(em) – Tests for Intoxication; Administrative Suspension and Revocation
5
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 343.305 – Tests for Intoxication
6
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 343.305(7) – Tests for Intoxication; Administrative Suspension and Revocation
7
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Ignition Interlock Device (IID)
8
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 343.305(9) – Tests for Intoxication; Administrative Suspension and Revocation
9
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Administrative Review Hearing
10
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Occupational License