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Bill > SB872


WI SB872

WI SB872
Nuisance actions against racing facilities.


summary

Introduced
01/23/2026
In Committee
01/23/2026
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead

Introduced Session

Potential new amendment
2025-2026 Regular Session

Bill Summary

Current law, provides that any person, county, city, village, or town may commence an action to abate a public nuisance to the extent necessary to protect the complainant’s rights and to obtain an injunction to prevent injuries to the complainant. However, current law provides a number of restrictions to commencing such an action. For example, an agricultural use or practice may not be found to be a nuisance if, generally, the use or practice is conducted on land that has been used without substantial interruption as agricultural land and the agricultural use or practice does not present a substantial threat to public health or safety. Under this bill, no racing facility may be found to be a public nuisance if all of the following apply: 1. The action alleging that the racing facility is a public nuisance is commenced by a person that owns real property that is within a five-mile radius of the perimeter of the racing facility. 2. The racing facility was constructed before the person commencing the nuisance action purchased, or made improvements to, the real property described above. The bill defines “racing facility” as a racetrack, regardless of whether the racetrack is permanent or seasonal, and includes any spectator areas, garages, and LRB-5948/1 JK:ajk&skw 2025 - 2026 Legislature SENATE BILL 872 associated grounds, buildings, or appurtenances used to conduct competitive motorsports races. The bill also prohibits a political subdivision from regulating the operation of a racing facility in a manner that is inconsistent with the other provisions under the bill. Under current law, “political subdivision” means a city, village, town, or county.

AI Summary

This bill establishes new protections for racing facilities, defining a "racing facility" as a racetrack and its associated areas used for competitive motorsports races. Under this bill, a racing facility cannot be considered a public nuisance if the person bringing the lawsuit owns property within a five-mile radius of the facility and the facility was already in operation or constructed before that person bought or improved their property. Furthermore, local governments, referred to as "political subdivisions" (cities, villages, towns, or counties), are prohibited from regulating racing facilities in ways that contradict these new provisions. This means that even if a racing facility expands or changes its operations after a neighbor moves in, as long as the changes are legal, the neighbor generally cannot sue based on nuisance claims if the facility meets the bill's criteria.

Committee Categories

Transportation and Infrastructure

Sponsors (7)

Last Action

Senate Amendment 2 offered by Senator Tomczyk (on 02/19/2026)

bill text


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