Frederica Freyberg:

Once law enforcement makes the arrest, it's State prosecutors in the counties who bring the charges.

But their ranks don’t have it so sweet in this budget. Last time around, the Wisconsin District Attorneys did see pay progression passed. That’s now out, along with request for more positions.

David O'Leary is DA in Rock County and president of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association.

Thanks very much for being here

David O'Leary:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

So 107 Assistant DA positions were asked for in this budget, but none was included?

David O'Leary: Correct.

Frederica Freyberg: Also, funding for socalled pay progression and that was axed.

David O'Leary: Correct.

Frederica Freyberg: Why do your offices need more positions?

David O'Leary:

The ranks of the prosecutors of the State is at a tenyear low. We're at 335 positions right now. The turnover rates have been, again, growing for the last decade, and last year, we hit an alltime high for the last decade, of 14% in the turnover. So the problem is we have less prosecutors staying in the profession, less experienced prosecutors there to handle the major cases. So the need is twofold. We need additional prosecutors, but we need the prosecutors to stay in the profession to get the experience to handle these major cases.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what do you want to tell the lawmakers who are working up the budget about why you need these?

David O'Leary:

We had a meeting at the Capitol with many other elected DAs, Deputy DAs, Assistant DAs, all coming up and asking the Legislature to recognize the need for experienced prosecutors. They advised that they recognize the need, but, again, we’re waiting to see how the budget shakes out. So we’ve been trying to emphasize that this is a matter of community safety, that everybody assumes that when you are arrested and charged with a serious offense, that it will be handled appropriately. But we’re here to say it’s not handled that way because we can’t keep people in the profession.

Frederica Freyberg:

Because what doesn’t get prosecuted?

David O'Leary:

Right now, for example, in Rock County, I have basically created policies, because we have gotten no help from the Legislature, or anyone, to give us additional assistance, where I don’t charge things like shoplifting, petty thefts, gas driveoffs. Lots of State charges that come down from the Department of Workforce Development, Department of Ag and Consumer Protection, where they assume this is going to be protected and they assume this is going to be prosecuted. But District Attorneys don’t have time for that.

We’re dealing with our homicides, our sexual assaults, our heroin addiction, related crimes of burglary and robbery. So, we prioritize by spending our time on the more serious ones, and don't have time to deal with the lesser crimes.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, ADAs start at about $50,000. Why do they need raises, this socalled pay progression?

Frederica Freyberg:

The intent, when prosecutors became State employees, is we wanted people to stay in the profession. When I started 30 years ago, the expectation would be you would work for three to five years, get your trial experience and then go get a real job so I can buy a home, pay for a family and pay off my student loans. The average kid coming out of college right now has an average debt of $100,000 after paying for seven years of college.

To get people to stay in the profession, the intent was get them on a State pay grade that they can work their way through the pay scale to get to the top end of the pay scale after a 30year career.

The reality is, we have individuals in the 10 to 20year range who are stagnant, cannot and have not and are still at the $50,000 after working for 10 to 15 years. They cannot work their way through the scale.

Frederica Freyberg:

So then you have this 14% turnover rate.

David O'Leary:

Right.

Frederica Freyberg:

And what does that do to the offices?

David O'Leary:

Well, what that does, for example, some of the statistics we have is there have been 406 ADAs hired since 2005 out of 191 positions, which means those positions are just turning over.

They come. They work. They realize they can get another job elsewhere, make more of a living.

I had a young lady in my office, left my office after approximately a year or so, went to work in a school system nearby and got basically a 50% raise in her income to go work elsewhere. So if you want experienced prosecutors in your office, the equivalent of handling these serious, serious cases, unfortunately, you have to pay for it. And that’s something we’ve been trying to encourage the Legislature to address. They are expressing that they understand that, but we’ve tried to work with them.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We’ll see. David O'Leary, thanks very much.

David O'Leary:

Thank you.