Wis. Stat. § 51.39

This is the official text of Wis. Stat. § 51.39, part of Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Statutes — the complete compiled statutory law of Wisconsin, organized into numbered chapters by subject.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Resident patients on unauthorized absence.

Official statutory text

If any patient who is admitted, transferred, or placed under s. 55.06 , 2003 stats., or s. 51.13 , 51.15 , 51.20 , 51.35 (3) , 51.37 , or 51.45 (11) (b) , (12) or (13) or ch. 55 , 971 , 975 , or 980 is on unauthorized absence from a treatment facility, the sheriff or any other law enforcement agency in the county in which the patient is found or in which it is believed the patient may be present, upon the request of the director, shall take charge of and return the patient to the facility. The costs incident to the return shall be paid out of the facility’s operating funds and be charged back to the patient’s county of residence.

History: 1975 c. 430 ; 1977 c. 428 ; 1979 c. 336 ; 1993 a. 479 ; 2005 a. 264 .

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Wisconsin?

Find a Wisconsin lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.