Wisconsin Legality of Sleeping it Off in Your Car

Question: Is it illegal to “sleep it off” in my car in Wisconsin?

Answer: It is not, but there are some circumstances where that can get you into trouble. There’s a couple of different things that happen quite frequently. One, and especially if it’s winter time and it’s quite cold, if a person goes to their vehicle and turns it on and it’s in a public area—a public parking lot or something like that—that can be enough for a prosecutor to charge and try and get a conviction on an OWI. Any activation of the vehicle. So that’s where people can get into trouble in Wisconsin. However, just sleeping in your vehicle without activating it or turning it on in any way is certainly not a problem. And if you are in a private location, then it is not illegal to turn on your vehicle and sleep it off.