Here & Now

Why Wisconsin Courts Need More Prosecutors, Public Defenders

Zac Schultz:

Wisconsin is facing a shortage in the courtroom as state offices are having a difficult time recruiting lawyers for both the prosecution and defense. “Here & Now” reporter Nathan Denzin has the story.

Judge:

Set cash bail in the amount of $2,000.

Judge Dutcher:

It’s really a problem that has reached a constitutional crisis from both perspectives.

Nathan Denzin:

State officials are warning of potential miscarriages of justice as Wisconsin faces a shortage of both public defenders and prosecutors.

Kurt Klomberg:

If you go to some of these counties like Waushara County or Shawano, it’s anywhere from 50% of their prosecution staff that are vacant. In one county right now, it’s 100% prosecution staff vacancy.

Nathan Denzin:

Kurt Klomberg is the district attorney for Dodge County, where he says staff shortages have been exacerbated by a lack of quality candidates.

Kurt Klomberg:

We’re getting very minimal numbers of applicants.

Nathan Denzin:

On the other side of the courtroom, state public defender Kelli Thompson says her office also has staffing issues.

Kelli Thompson:

The simple answer is we need more attorneys. We need more attorneys on staff and we need more attorneys in the private bar for those conflict and overflow cases. So right now we have a shortage just in recruitment.

Nathan Denzin:

Both prosecutors and defenders say the largest gap in recruitment falls in rural counties where open positions are not attracting attorneys.

Judge Dutcher:

We currently are a county that has two courts, two judges. We have a single prosecutor, the elected district attorney, and two vacant full time prosecutors positions.

Nathan Denzin:

Judge Dutcher presides over a courtroom in rural Waushara County that has seen attorney shortages increase steadily for about 10 years.

Judge Dutcher:

Where smaller counties were having difficulty finding attorneys to take cases. At times having to go three or four counties removed to find public defender appointments or public defender availability for people who have a constitutional right to representation.

Nathan Denzin:

Statewide, a murder case took about 15 months to be resolved in 2021. In rural Dodge County, it took about two years.

Kurt Klomberg:

Now we’re having these delays that go on longer and that really hurts victims. It also hurts defendants.

Nathan Denzin:

Since 2003, overall wait times before a decision is reached in felony cases has increased by 85%. And wait times for misdemeanor cases have increased by 110%.

Kelli Thompson:

The strain is significant. The human impact, the emotional, the mental health part of this is significant. I mean, to get those calls from your client to go see your client and to know that they’re struggling because they don’t have information or their case isn’t moving forward or they don’t know what’s going on.

Nathan Denzin:

The main cause of the shortage? A salary that starts low and doesn’t increase very fast. Most qualified attorneys don’t want state defender or prosecutor jobs because they can earn more at private firms.

Kelli Thompson:

Public defenders’ pay is too low, and so we need to boost that up because quite frankly, it’s hard to keep them when we can’t pay them enough to, you know, buy a home, raise their family, pay their student loans.

Nathan Denzin:

State attorney jobs start at about $55,000 per year, while private sector jobs typically start near $80,000 per year.

Kurt Klomberg:

When you’re looking at simply saying, I can make $25,000 more per year as a starting salary to simply go and do that as opposed to becoming a state prosecutor, there’s a business decision there.

Nathan Denzin:

On top of lower pay, prosecutors and public defenders often have massive caseloads. Klomberg says it isn’t unusual for a prosecutor to juggle 200 to 300 cases at a time.

Kurt Klomberg:

You’re always trying to catch up. And so that also makes the job less attractive.

Nathan Denzin:

While hiring has been a problem for both offices, retention has also become an issue. This chart shows the number of years prosecutors have spent actually prosecuting cases. Most fall between 1 and 8 years of experience, while a far smaller number have more than 10 years’ experience.

Judge Dutcher:

When I came through the ranks as a young prosecutor, there were literally dozens of very seasoned, experienced career prosecutors. I think you see less and less people choosing prosecution as a career.

Nathan Denzin:

A lack of experience can cause mistakes in the courtroom that can’t be fixed.

Kurt Klomberg:

This is also a job where we really don’t get a lot of second chances. If you make a mistake, it’s pretty much final.

Nathan Denzin:

In order to make state attorney positions more attractive to potential candidates, both the state public defender’s office and many district attorneys are petitioning the state government for a higher starting salary.

Kurt Klomberg:

The state prosecutor’s office did a study recently, and the Wisconsin DAs Association, which I’m the past president of, is promoting a salary point in the mid-70s.

Nathan Denzin:

Klomberg says a $70,000 starting salary would likely boost the number of prosecutors to acceptable levels. On the defender’s side, the state legislature has been asked to increase pay for private bar attorneys from $70 per hour to $125 per hour for in-court work and $100 per hour for out of court work.

Kelli Thompson:

We need to either be at that or above that so that we can continue to take that burden off of the county.

Nathan Denzin:

While increased starting salaries would have an impact in the long term, Klomberg and Thompson say federal funds should be used to temporarily raise salaries.

Kurt Klomberg:

There is a limited amount of funds that are available right now because of the ARPA money that has been made available, but for the most part, it has to be only in extreme situations.

Nathan Denzin:

As the state legislature is set to meet and decide Wisconsin’s next budget, funding for the justice system will be at the top of attorneys’ minds.

Judge Dutcher:

There’s an expression that often gets used, that justice delayed is justice denied, and that applies, frankly, to everyone who’s involved with this type of circumstance.

Nathan Denzin:

For “Here & Now,” I’m Nathan Denzin.