Local counties in line to receive extra prosecutors
by the Herald Times Reporter
Wisconsin counties struggling with crowded jails and a backlogged criminal-justice system could get some relief in 2019, under a proposal making its way through the state Assembly.
Assembly leaders say they have a deal in place to hire more than 50 prosecutors to assist overburdened district attorneys across the state.
Brown, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Outagamie, Portage, Sheboygan, Winnebago and Wood counties are among those where two additional prosecutors would be funded, said Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere. One additional prosecutor would be funded for Marathon County, and one for Shawano County.
The roughly $3.9 million in funding would be in place to hire prosecutors in mid-2019.
Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said Assembly Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker have agreed to the funding. He said GOP senators have yet to sign off on the deal.
"This is an opportunity for us to make a smart, structural change to our system," said Nygren, who is backing the idea along with Jacque and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam.
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Overall, the measure would fund 53.75 positions over the 40 counties that have the greatest need. Each of the 40 is at least 20 percent below the staffing level recommend in a 2016 analysis of DA staffing in Wisconsin.
"This will help ensure the public, victims, and children will be represented appropriately," Manitowoc County DA Jacalyn LaBre said in a statement released by Jacque's office. "It will also help increase efficiency in the criminal justice system."
A part-time post in Marinette County — which saw DA Allen Brey resign last year in frustration over staffing issues — would be funded in 2020.
The proposal is in the form of an amendment to a bill that includes $430 million in funding to solve prison problems in the state.
While it would add prosecutors, the number would be fewer than have the 140 positions that a 2016 analysis said were needed throughout Wisconsin's 71 district attorneys' offices. Brown County, the study found, was almost 12 prosecutors short of the number needed to meet existing demands.
Local officials are urging the Legislature to approve the measure, which they say would address a problem that has festered for years.
"Brown County has been asking the state to fund district attorneys in order to repair the shortage for the past five years,” County Executive Troy Streckenbach said in a written statement. “I’m calling on the Senate and Governor Walker to support this plan so Brown County can provide a more efficient office to help improve our community’s justice system.”
A number of state and local lawmakers have argued for years that a shortage of prosecutors is crowding their county jails, forcing more plea-bargains and creating other problems, as delays in getting cases to court have grown by weeks or months.
"This would be huge for law-enforcement," said Jacque, who last year introduced a bill to hire 20 additional prosecutors, including several in his home county of Brown. "The prosecutors, the jail — the system is overburdened."
Officials around the state hailed the funding proposal as welcome relief.
"The representatives’ proposal to provide over 50 new prosecutors is the solution to one of the biggest challenges in our criminal justice system," said state Attorney General Brad Schimel. "I have seen that we are at a crisis point in our DAs offices. … While crime has gotten more complex, staffing levels have changed minimally from the 1990s."
Not everyone, though, was so positive. Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, said the state can’t just add prosecutors to send more people to prison without adding public defenders and judges.
“You cannot simply add to one side of the ledger in the criminal justice system,” he said.
Crowding can be costly for taxpayers.
In part because it's taking longer to get inmates' cases into court, Brown County saw its jail reach capacity last year. That's forced sheriff's officials to pay more than $20,000 per month to Outagamie and other counties, and to consider a multi-million-dollar expansion to add capacity to a facility that's less than 20 years old.
It also prompted the County Board to consider hiring prosecutors in addition to those funded by the state. The board, though, ultimately rejected that idea.
In previous years, the board has funded a special prosecutor position to clear a backlog of more than 500 drug cases.