Repeat Reckless Drivers Could Lose Their Vehicles in Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Common Council is considering an ordinance that would declare repeat reckless driving offenses a "public nuisance" and temporarily or permanently confiscate the vehicles of repeat offenders.

The big idea behind the ordinance, as summarized in an article by Elliot Hughes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "the city would target its most extreme repeat offenders of reckless driving by taking them to civil court and establishing their behavior as a public nuisance. If the judge agrees, the court could issue an order to stop the nuisance."

According to sources cited in the article, the proposed ordinance is the first of its kind and was first proposed by Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. The ordinance has initial support among the city's aldermen and cleared a key council committee before hitting a roadblock with the city attorney's office.

The reality is none of the other legal remedies are working [….] Tickets, bench warrants… none of it is working. This will provide another tool, because reckless driving is a huge complaint. I live on a busy street, I see it day in, day out. There are individuals who just should not be driving. – Milwaukee Alderman José Pérez

As mentioned above, the ordinance did hit a roadblock this week before facing a vote from the full Common Council. As reported in a separate article by Hughes, an 11th-hour opinion from the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office blocked the ordinance.

"Despite the proposal receiving unanimous committee approval on March 10, the city attorney’s office did not issue its latest opinion on it until less than 24 hours before Tuesday’s Common Council meeting," reports Hughes. "Those objections meant the council could not take up the legislation at its Tuesday meeting and it was instead sent back to committee."

Proponents of the ordinance are quoted in the article saying the city attorney's opinion is blocking the ordinance on policy, not legal grounds. The city attorney's opinion is not considered a final straw for the ordinance, which will head back to the drawing board in committee.