Fifty-six counties will see 65 new prosecutors under Tony Evers' plan
MADISON - Fifty-six out of the state's 72 counties will see a total of 65 new faces in each county's chief prosecutor's office, Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday.
It's the first time in more than 10 years state funding has created positions for new county prosecutors to help district attorneys, who have argued for years their caseload is outpacing the number of people in their offices to handle it. In all, the new positions will cost $7.8 million.
"For far too long our county district attorney offices have been doing more with less," Evers said in a statement. "This historic investment will enable our county officials to improve victims services, enhance diversion and treatment options for those struggling with substance use disorders, and address backlogs that are standing in the way of justice."
Evers' decision to add the new assistant district attorneys to the 56 counties comes after he vetoed a provision in the Republican-written state budget that would have added more prosecutors across the state but none for the state's largest county.
Evers said at the time he objected to earmarking the positions to certain counties instead of assigning them to where they are most needed.
Under Evers' plan released Tuesday, Milwaukee County would get an additional three prosecutors and Rock County would gain one new prosecutor. Under the GOP plan neither would have gotten new prosecutors.
Brown County will keep the three new positions that Republicans also proposed, and Dane County will gain one additional position on top of the part-time position included in the GOP-authored state budget. Washington County also will gain 1.4 prosecutors instead of just one.
Among the counties that fared worse are Columbia, Manitowoc, Monroe, Fond du Lac, Marathon and Ozaukee — all of which will see one fewer new prosecutor than under the GOP-authored state budget.
Rep. John Nygren of Marinette, a Republican leader of the Legislature's budget-writing committee, said while the additional prosecutors will improve public safety statewide, he's disappointed Evers chose to add positions in Milwaukee and Dane counties.
"As rural Wisconsin continues to deal with the scourge of the opiate and methamphetamine epidemics, the best thing the Governor could have done was leave the Legislature’s allocations alone," said Nygren, who has authored a number of bills targeting opioid addiction. He said the plan ignores work prosecutors put in to help Republicans craft the plan they passed in the state budget, which Evers later vetoed.
"Not only does the Governor’s action ignore prosecutors around the state, it puts politics ahead of public safety,” Nygren said.
Nygren also criticized Evers' decision to add positions in Milwaukee and Dane counties because of the staffing levels already there, pointing to a 2016 Legislative Audit Bureau workload analysis that showed the counties were at 115% and 85% of the needed staffing.
“As passed, our budget provided much-needed personnel to the Fond du Lac, Monroe, Manitowoc, Marathon and Sheboygan County DA offices, whose staffing levels hovered around 60% or less for the workload," Nygren said in a statement. "Shockingly, the Governor decided to slash a whole position from Monroe County, which currently has only 41% of the staff needed to meet its workload.”
Evers said in his veto message Department of Administration officials and the State Prosecutors Office would study the needs in district attorneys offices by looking at staffing levels, workload and the available programs for treatment.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has long hired several of his assistants with grants for limited time and tasks. He welcomed the three new permanent slots that he said will give his office more flexibility.
Chisholm's already in hiring mode, trying to replace more than a dozen prosecutors who have left his office this year for other DA's offices, judge's posts, private practice, other public law jobs or retirement.
In 2015, Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol persuaded the county to fund an extra prosecutor with the promise that if the state ever did allocate a position, the county-paid slot would lapse. He hopes it will be converted to a part-time paralegal position.
The person who had filled the county-paid special prosecutor job — whom Gerol poached from Chisholm's office — switched to a state position when a longtime assistant DA retired.
Gerol said he's already got a potential hire in mind for his new slot, and expects to work with Washington County DA Mark Bensen to find the right young prosecutor to work part time in each of their offices.
"But with 65 positions suddenly open around the state, it's going to be a scramble" to hire new prosecutors, he said.
Bruce Vielmetti and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.