Proposal Would Increase What State Claims Board Can Pay to People Who Went to Prison for Crimes They Didn't Commit

Wednesday, January 7th, 2026 -- 10:00 AM

(Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) A proposal advancing in Wisconsin would dramatically increase what the Wisconsin Claims Board can pay to people who went to prison for crimes they did not commit.

According to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, State Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek, cited Lugo’s experience when introducing the bill, which advanced to committee hearings with bipartisan support last month.

Rodriguez said she was contacted by Lugo, who formerly lived in her district. “If you listen to the testimony from Gabriel Lugo and anybody else who was exonerated, the biggest challenge … is being able to function in society after serving so many years of their lives in prison,” said Rodriguez, who authored the bill alongside state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine.

“We are trying to do something to not only help them get back on their feet, but also compensate them in the meantime.” Under Rodriguez’s bill, the claims board could pay a wrongfully convicted person up to $50,000 for every year wrongfully spent behind bars.

That annual amount would increase with inflation. The bill also sets a lifetime cap on compensation at no more than $1 million. Additionally, the proposal would make exonerees eligible for reentry services, designed to ease their transition out of prison. And it would allow them to apply for state employee health care coverage.

“There’s no amount of money that can undo the pain and trauma and loss for folks,” said Christopher Lau, who works to overturn wrongful convictions as co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project.

Still, Lau said the bill’s changes would make a real difference for wrongfully incarcerated Wisconsinites. He noted that many exonerees struggle with high health costs after receiving substandard care while behind bars.

“We see our clients come out,” Lau said. “They come out with no access to health care, with no access to homes.” Compared to other states, Wisconsin ranks toward the bottom when it comes to compensating wrongfully incarcerated people.

Under U.S. law, exonerees can get $50,000 for every year in federal prison, or up to $100,000 for every year spent on death row. Currently, it costs an average of $54,600 to lock up one person for one year in state prison, according to Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections.

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