Wisconsin Code § 51.41

Milwaukee County mental health; Milwaukee
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County mental health board. (1d) MILWAUKEE COUNTY
MENTAL HEALTH BOARD; APPOINTMENTS; REQUIREMENTS; VACANCIES. (a) Milwaukee County shall establish the Milwaukee
County mental health board.
(b) Subject to par. (d), the board shall consist of the following
11 voting members appointed by the Milwaukee County executive for 4-year terms except for the members under subds. 10. and
11.:
1. A psychiatrist or psychologist who is suggested by the
Milwaukee County board of supervisors. The Milwaukee County
board of supervisors shall solicit suggestions for psychiatrists and
psychologists from organizations including the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Medical Society of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin
Psychological Association, the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association, and the Wisconsin Association of Family and Children’s
Agencies for individuals who specialize in a full continuum of
behavioral health services for children. The Milwaukee County
board of supervisors shall suggest to the Milwaukee County executive 4 psychiatrists and psychologists for this board membership
position.
2. A psychiatrist or psychologist who is suggested by the
Milwaukee County board of supervisors. The Milwaukee County
board of supervisors shall solicit suggestions for psychiatrists and
psychologists from organizations including the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Medical Society of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin
Psychological Association, the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association, and the Milwaukee Co-occurring Competency Cadre for individuals who specialize in a full continuum of behavioral health
services for adults. The Milwaukee County board of supervisors
shall suggest to the Milwaukee County executive 4 psychiatrists
and psychologists for this board membership position.
3. A representative of the community who is a consumer of
mental health services and who is suggested by the Milwaukee
County board of supervisors. The Milwaukee County board of
supervisors shall solicit suggestions for individuals who have experienced mental illness or substance abuse from organizations
including Warmline, the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force,
and the Milwaukee Co-occurring Competency Cadre. The Milwaukee County board of supervisors shall suggest to the Milwaukee County executive 4 representatives of the community for this
board membership position.
4. A psychiatric mental health advanced practice registered
nurse who is suggested by the Milwaukee County board of supervisors. The Milwaukee County board of supervisors shall solicit
suggestions from organizations including the Wisconsin Nurses
Association for individuals who specialize in a full continuum of
behavioral health and medical services including emergency detention, inpatient, residential, transitional, partial hospitalization,
intensive outpatient, and wraparound community-based services.

The Milwaukee County board of supervisors shall suggest to the
Milwaukee County executive 4 psychiatric mental health advanced practice registered nurses for this board membership
position.
(1s) DUTIES OF THE BOARD. The Milwaukee County mental
health board shall do all of the following:
(a) Oversee the provision of mental health programs and services in Milwaukee County.
(b) Allocate moneys for mental health functions, programs,
and services in Milwaukee County within the mental health budget as defined in sub. (4) (a) 2.
(c) Make the final determination on mental health policy in
Milwaukee County.
(d) Replace the Milwaukee County board of supervisors in all
mental health functions that are typically performed by a county
board of supervisors.
(e) Facilitate delivery of mental health services in an efficient
and effective manner by making a commitment to all of the
following:
1. Community-based, person-centered, recovery-oriented,
mental health systems.
2. Maximizing comprehensive community-based services.
3. Prioritizing access to community-based services and reducing reliance on institutional and inpatient care.
4. Protecting the personal liberty of individuals experiencing
mental illness so that they may be treated in the least restrictive
environment to the greatest extent possible.
5. Providing early intervention to minimize the length and
depth of psychotic and other mental health episodes.
6. Diverting people experiencing mental illness from the corrections system when appropriate.
7. Maximizing use of mobile crisis units and crisis intervention training.
(f) Attempt to achieve costs savings in the provision of mental
health programs and services in Milwaukee County.
(g) Cooperate and consult with the department on recommendations for and establishing policy for inpatient mental health
treatment facilities and related programs in Milwaukee County.
(2) POWERS OF THE BOARD; LIMITATIONS. The Milwaukee
County mental health board may request information from the
Milwaukee Mental Health Complex, a county department under
s. 46.21 or 51.42 or any other Milwaukee County governmental
unit that possesses mental health information in order to fulfill its
duties of overseeing mental health functions, programs, and services in Milwaukee County.
(3) PUBLIC HEARING; MEETINGS. The Milwaukee County
mental health board shall meet 6 times each year and may meet at
other times on the call of the chairperson or a majority of the
board’s members. Annually, the Milwaukee County mental
health board shall hold a public hearing in Milwaukee County as
one of its required meetings.
(4) MILWAUKEE COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET. (a) In
this subsection:
1. “Community aids amount” means the amount of the mental health budget that is funded from the community aids allocation received under s. 46.40.
2. “Mental health budget” means the part of the budget for
Milwaukee County for a fiscal year that covers mental health
functions, programs, and services in Milwaukee County.
3. “Tax levy amount” means the amount of the mental health
budget that is funded from revenues from the tax levy.
(b) 1. The Milwaukee County mental health board shall propose to the Milwaukee County executive the total amount of the
mental health budget, the community aids amount, and the tax
levy amount. The Milwaukee County mental health board may
not propose a tax levy amount that is less than $53,000,000 or
more than $65,000,000, except as provided in subds. 5. and 6.
2. The county executive, in his or her proposed budget for
Milwaukee County for a fiscal year, may include a tax levy
amount that is different than the tax levy amount proposed under
subd. 1., but the county executive may not include a tax levy
amount that is less than $53,000,000 or more than $65,000,000,
except as provided in subds. 5. and 6.
3. The county board of supervisors shall allocate to mental

health functions, programs, and services an amount from the
county’s community aids allocation received under s. 46.40 that
maintains or increases the expenditures for mental health functions, programs, and services paid from the county’s community
aids allocation in the previous fiscal year to the extent of the
availability of community aids funds from the state.
4. Except as provided in subds. 5. and 6., the county board of
supervisors shall incorporate into the budget for Milwaukee
County for a fiscal year all of the following:
a. The tax levy amount as proposed by the county executive
under subd. 2. and the amount of the community aids allocation
determined under subd. 3.
b. An amount equal to the total amount of the mental health
budget proposed under subd. 1., less the community aids amount
proposed under subd. 1. and the tax levy amount proposed under
subd. 1.
5. If the Milwaukee County mental health board transfers to
itself jurisdiction of a function, service, or program under sub. (5)
(b) that it did not have jurisdiction over on April 10, 2014, the tax
levy amount proposed under subd. 2. is increased by an amount
equal to the amount derived from revenue from the tax levy that
was expended by Milwaukee County for the transferred function,
service, or program in the fiscal year before the fiscal year in
which the function, program, or service is transferred. The
$65,000,000 limit imposed under subds. 1. and 2. upon the tax
levy amount may be exceeded by the amount of the increase under this subdivision in any fiscal year in which the Milwaukee
County mental health board has jurisdiction over the transferred
function, service, or program.
6. If a majority of the Milwaukee County mental health
board and a majority of the Milwaukee County board of supervisors approves and the Milwaukee County executive agrees the tax
levy amount may be less than $53,000,000 or more than
$65,000,000 for a fiscal year.
(c) Except as allowed under pars. (b) 2., 3., 4., 5., and 6. and
(d), the Milwaukee County board of supervisors may not in a fiscal year provide funding, and the Milwaukee County executive
may not in a fiscal year approve funding, for mental health functions, services, and programs that is less than or more than the total amount of the mental health budget proposed under par. (b) 1.
for that fiscal year for those mental health functions, services,
and programs.
(d) The treasurer in Milwaukee County shall hold any moneys
that at the end of a fiscal year have not been expended or encumbered from the amount budgeted for mental health functions, programs, and services in a mental health reserve fund. Moneys in
the reserve fund may be used at any time to cover deficits in the
Milwaukee County mental health budget. If the amount in the reserve fund exceeds $10,000,000, the amount exceeding
$10,000,000 may be used at any time for any mental health function, program, or service in Milwaukee County. Moneys in the
reserve fund may be used only for the purposes described in this
paragraph.
(5) JURISDICTION OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY BOARD. (a) The
Milwaukee County board of supervisors has no jurisdiction over
any mental health policy, functions, programs, or services. The
Milwaukee County board of supervisors may not create new
mental health functions, programs, or services that are under the
jurisdiction of the board of supervisors.
(b) The Milwaukee County mental health board may transfer
jurisdiction over a Milwaukee County function, service, or program to itself that pertains to mental health or is highly integrated
with mental health services and that is not under its jurisdiction
by statute, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the Milwaukee
County mental health board members and a majority of the Milwaukee County board of supervisors.
(7) COUNTY DEPARTMENT REQUIREMENTS. (a) A county department under s. 46.21 or 51.42 in Milwaukee County may not
impede the Milwaukee County mental health board in performing its duties under this section or exercising its powers under this
section.
(b) A county department under s. 46.21 or 51.42 in Milwaukee County shall respond to any requests for information from the
Milwaukee County mental health board.
(8) REPORTS; STUDIES. (a) By March 1, 2015, and annually
by March 1 thereafter, the Milwaukee County mental health
board shall submit to the Milwaukee County executive, the Milwaukee County board of supervisors, and the department a report
including a description of the funding allocations for Milwaukee
County’s mental health functions, services, and programs and a
description of any improvements and efficiencies in those mental
health functions, programs, and services. The department shall
provide access to the report under this subsection to the public including posting the report on the department’s Internet site.
(b) The Milwaukee County mental health board shall arrange
for a study to be conducted on alternate funding sources for mental health services and programs including fee-for-service models, managed care models that integrate mental health services
into the contracts with an increased offset through basic county
allocation reduction, and other funding models. By March 1,
2016, the Milwaukee County mental health board shall submit to
the Milwaukee County board of supervisors, the Milwaukee
County executive, and the department a report of the results of
the study.
(9) ADMINISTRATOR. (a) The Milwaukee County executive
shall nominate an individual to be the administrator of any division or branch of the department under s. 46.21 that administers
behavioral health for Milwaukee County. The nominated individual may be hired as the administrator only upon approval of the
Milwaukee County mental health board. If the county executive
does not nominate an individual by June 1, 2015, the Milwaukee
County mental health board may hire an individual to be the administrator. Upon a vacancy in the position of administrator, if
the county executive does not nominate an individual within 12
months of the date the position becomes vacant, the Milwaukee
County mental health board may hire an individual to be the
administrator.
(b) The Milwaukee County executive shall determine the
salary and benefits and the job duties of the administrator. The
county executive may not assign the administrator any duties that
are not related to mental health functions, programs, and services
in Milwaukee County.
(c) The administrator under this subsection may be removed
by the Milwaukee County mental health board by a vote of 8
members of that board, the director of a county department under
s. 46.21 in Milwaukee County, or the county executive of Milwaukee County.
(d) The Milwaukee County board of supervisors may not hire,
remove, or discipline; set the salary or benefits of, or assign or remove any job duties of the administrator under this subsection.
(10) MENTAL HEALTH CONTRACTS. Any contract related to
mental health with a value of at least $100,000, to which Milwaukee County is a party may take effect only if the Milwaukee
County mental health board votes to approve, or does not vote to
reject, the contract within 28 days after the contract is signed or
countersigned by the county executive.
(11) TRANSITION LIAISON POSITION. (a) The Milwaukee
County executive shall nominate an individual who has knowledge of the services provided by and the mental health systems of

Milwaukee County to be a transition liaison to assist the Milwaukee County mental health board in the transition of oversight
functions and to ensure there is no interruption of mental health
services. The transition liaison shall be assigned or hired to that
position only upon approval of the Milwaukee County mental
health board. The transition liaison shall be assigned to or employed in that position for no longer than 12 months, except that
the county executive may grant extensions to the term of that
position.
(b) 1. The Milwaukee County executive shall determine the
salary and benefits and the job duties of the transition liaison assigned or hired under par. (a).
2. The Milwaukee County executive may remove the transition liaison assigned or hired under par. (a). If the Milwaukee
County executive removes the transition liaison assigned or hired
under par. (a) before the 12 months following the date of the assignment or hiring of the initial transition liaison have expired,
the Milwaukee County executive shall nominate another transition liaison to serve for at least the remainder of the 12 months
following the date of the assignment or hiring of the initial transition liaison.
(c) The Milwaukee County board of supervisors may not hire,
remove, or discipline; set the salary or benefits of; or assign or remove any job duties of the transition liaison assigned or hired under this subsection.

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