Governor Scott Walker has signed the first bill that addresses alleged inmate abuse at the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile institutions. The Republican governor approved a measure that adds juvenile correctional officers to the list of professionals who must report suspected child abuse and neglect to law enforcement.
A federal probe into alleged abuses at the Lincoln County institutions is in its third year — and a judge recently ordered the state to create new policies to reduce the use of pepper spray and the length of solitary confinements for troubled teens.
The bill was among 20 Walker signed into law on Wednesday. He also approved new time limits for deer feeding bans in areas that don’t get new cases of chronic wasting disease — and he approved penalties for those who use skimming machines to steal credit card data from places like gas pumps.