MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Just short of the one year anniversary of the shooting rampage that took her life, a bill named after family law attorney Sara Quirt Sann is headed to Governor Walker’s desk.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted unanimously to pass Assembly Bill 825, which has become known as “Sara’s Law”. This bill was authored by Senator Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon) and Representative Pat Snyder (R-Schofield) in response to a local tragedy that took place last year where a party to a divorce action took the lives of four innocent individuals – Dianne Look, Karen Barclay, Detective Jason Weiland and Attorney Sara Quirt Sann.
“On March 22, 2017 our community suffered a heartbreaking tragedy that resulted in the loss of four innocent lives, so the passage of this bill is timely as we are almost exactly one year out from that tragic event,” said Senator Petrowski. “By extending this heightened protection to family law practitioners, hopefully we can strongly deter future threats and violence against attorneys like Sara.”
Assembly Bill 825 makes it a Class H felony to intentionally cause, or threaten to cause, bodily harm to a guardian ad litem, corporation counsel, or attorney in relation to their professional role in proceedings affecting the family, including actions under the children’s and juvenile codes, restraining orders, guardianships and protective placements. Our statutes already provide this protection to judges, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, witnesses as well as DOR and DSPS employees.
“The tragedy that happened last March is a situation that we never want to see repeated,” Rep. Snyder said. “While passage of Sara’s Law won’t fill the void that is left in her absence, it can help prevent situations like that from happening again. I look forward to working with Governor Walker to make AB 825 become law.”
As Assembly Bill 825 has already been passed by the Assembly, it now awaits Governor Walker’s signature. During a recent stop in Marathon City Walker said he intends to sign the bill in Wausau at a future date. He added that he would like family members of those affected to be a part of the ceremony.
