Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
Urging the State of Wisconsin to staff District Attorneys’ offices at the level found necessary by the Legislative Audit Bureau.
Body
WHEREAS, the primary criminal prosecution office for each county in Wisconsin is its District Attorney's Office. Public protection, fair enforcement of the laws, the rights of victims, and the rights of the accused to professional, deliberative prosecution of alleged crimes all depend on adequate staffing of the state’s 71 district attorney offices, and;
WHEREAS, the attorneys in each D.A. office are paid by the State of Wisconsin, through money allocated by the State Legislature. Victims, local law enforcement officers, courts, and members of the public who interact with D.A. offices are poorly served by understaffed D.A. offices. Moreover, county employees in D.A. offices, such as investigators, paralegals, victim witness advocates, and secretaries are subject to great stress and impaired effectiveness when there are too few attorneys in a D.A.’s office, and;
WHEREAS, in its report issued in July 2007 the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau found that, as of August 2006, the State of Wisconsin required a total of 552.98 prosecutors, based on the weighted caseload formula. Given population and other changes since then, the current number would be even higher, and;
WHEREAS, the number of prosecutors provided by the state of Wisconsin is less than the number required under the formula. As of July 1, 2006 the State of Wisconsin funded only 376.40 (68.1 percent) prosecutor positions with GPR funding, and another 48.25 positions with Program Revenue funding. The number funded with Program Revenue decreased to 44.25 (8.0 percent) prosecutor positions by August 2006, and is now falling even further with the loss of federal Byrne grants, and;
WHEREAS, this leaves a shortfall of 117.33 (21.2 percent) prosecutor positions required, as of August 2006, under the weighted caseload formu...
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