Opinion No. Oag 59-80, (1980)

GERARD S. PARADOWSKI, Acting Corporation Counsel Milwaukee County

You have requested my opinion concerning the remedies available to a hotel proprietor when a registered guest takes hotel property without authorization or overstays the agreed-upon visit without an extension of his or her reservation.

1. Theft of Hotel-Motel Property. You first ask whether the temporary detention provision of the shoplifting statute, sec.943.50, Stats., can be used by innkeepers. Section 943.50(1), Stats., specifically refers to the conversion of "merchandise held for resale by a merchant." Clearly, an innkeeper…