HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.sag/sagwi0110 and id is 1 raw text is:
STATE OF WISCONSIN
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
BRAD D. SCHIMEL 114 East, State Capitol
ATTORNEY GENERAL P.O. Box 7857
Madison, WI 63707-7857
Paul W. Connell 608/266-1221
Deputy Attorney General TTY 1-800-9474529
Delanie M. Breuer
Chief of Staff
February 23, 2018
OAG-01-18
The Honorable Scott Fitzgerald
Senate Majority Leader
Chair, Senate Committee on Organization
Post Office Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707-7882
Dear Senator Fitzgerald:
1 1. Wisconsin Stat. § 348.27(9r) authorizes the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation to issue permits allowing the transportation of recyclable scrap on
vehicles exceeding statutory weight or length limitations. You have requested an
opinion on whether Wisconsin municipalities are prohibited from regulating, by
either a permit or a license, vehicles operating on municipal streets or highways that
have been issued such a permit by the Department of Transportation.
¶ 2. I conclude that Wisconsin municipalities do not have the authority to
regulate, by permit or license, vehicles that have been issued permits by the
Department of Transportation under Wis. Stat. § 348.27(9r). Under Wisconsin law,
local traffic regulations (1) cannot be contrary to or inconsistent with chapters 341 to
348 and 350 of the Wisconsin Statutes or (2) must be expressly authorized by state
statute. Wis. Stat. § 349.03(1)(a)-(b). Municipalities have no authority to require
licenses or permits of scrap hauling vehicles because such regulation would be
contrary to Wis. Stat. § 349.03(2), inconsistent with Wis. Stat. § 348.27(9r), and is not
expressly authorized by any statute.
1 3. As the Wisconsin Supreme Court requires, I begin with the plain
language of the statutes. State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane Cty.,
2004 WI 58, ¶ 45, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. The Wisconsin Supreme Court
has long held that the state has absolute control of streets and highways and a city
has no inherent power over them. City of Madison v. Reynolds, 48 Wis. 2d 156, 158,
180 N.W.2d 7 (1970). A municipality cannot forbid[ ] in an area pre-empted by the](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagwi0110&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)