Because the criminal code of Wisconsin had undergone no major revision since Wisconsin became a state in 1948, in 1951 the Criminal Code Advisory Committee of the Legislative Council's Judiciary Committee was created by means of Joint Resolution 97A. This committee was created in order to prepare a new criminal code to be submitted to the Legislature in the form of a bill. The committee expressed six objectives in their project: 1) Modernization, 2) Simplification, 3) Codification, 4) Systematic organization, 5) More effective administration, and 6) Protection of the rights of defendants. The final product of the committee's work was AB 100 which became Chapter 623, Laws of 1953.
In accordance with section 282 of this act, the criminal code was published in the 1953 session laws and in the 1953 statutes, but it was not to take effect until 1955. In addition, on the recommendation of the Criminal Code Advisory Committee, the Legislative Council was directed to submit bills to the 1955 Legislature to amend this act. The criminal code can be found in the 1955 statutes under Chapter 900.
