New bills would increase penalties for harassing officials

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is supporting a reintroduced bill in the State Legislature that would make it a misdemeanor to harass or intimidate a sports official in response to action taken or with intent to influence a referee, umpire, judge or anyone serving similar functions.

Two bills to create a state statute have received support in the Assembly from Rep. Todd Novak and Rep. Alex Dallman and in the Senate from Sen. Joan Ballweg and Sen. Andre Jacque.

An identical bill was introduced near the end of the Legislature’s last session. It has been reintroduced at the request of the WIAA, National Association of Sport Officials and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The proposal is also supported by the Wisconsin Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association (WYSA) and the Wisconsin Soccer Referee Development Program.

Currently, it is a Class B forfeiture — with a fine as much as $1,000 — if an individual harasses, intimidates, strikes, shoves or kicks another individual, or if the individual engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits harassing or intimidating behavior with no legitimate purpose.

The two bills create a new crime for harassment and intimidation of a sports official and revise the existing penalty.

Statistics from the NASO Legislation Scorecard show 13% of officials have been assaulted by either a fan, coach or player.

The bills propose a penalty as a Class A misdemeanor, which can carry a fine of as much as $10,000 and up to nine months in jail, and could require 40 hours of community service.