813.40.Injunctive relief in prison condition cases.

Section 813.40 sets a distinct standard for injunctions a prisoner obtains over prison or jail conditions, terms defined by cross-reference to section 801.02 (7) (a) 2. and 3. Any such injunction must require only what is necessary to correct the harm and use the least intrusive means available; it cannot let a government official, employee, or agent exceed authority or violate state law or a local ordinance, unless federal law permits the relief, the relief is necessary to correct a federal-rights violation, and no lesser relief would fix it.

If an injunction is issued that does not meet those requirements, a defendant or intervenor is entitled to immediate termination of the relief or its revision to comply, unless the court makes written findings in the record that the requirements are met. The section carries this standard into settlements as well: a court may not enter or approve a consent decree failing to meet those requirements, though the parties remain free to enter a private settlement agreement outside that standard as long as its only enforcement mechanism is dismissal of the case, not court-ordered compliance.

In deciding how far any injunction under this section should reach, the court must give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or on the operation of the criminal justice system. Any interested party may seek modification or termination of the injunction two years after it issued, or one year after an earlier modification request was denied, and filing that motion automatically stays any prospective relief starting ninety days after the motion is filed until the court rules on it. The parties remain free to agree to modify or terminate an injunction on their own.

The section does not authorize a court to order the construction of prisons, jails, or other places of incarceration, does not authorize raising taxes, and does not expand a court’s powers under chapter 813 generally. And except for writs of habeas corpus or as the state or federal constitution otherwise requires, it does not authorize a “prisoner release order,” defined as any order meant or having the effect of reducing or limiting the prison or jail population, or directing the release or nonadmission of prisoners.