March 4, 2010 – Wisconsin residents may be surprised to learn that their local District Attorney (DA) and Assistant District Attorneys (ADAs) are state – not local – government employees. They might be even more surprised to learn about pending plans in Madison to reduce the number of prosecutors in counties across the state (on top of required furlough days for most of those who remain on the payroll).
The Wisconsin State Bar’s Board of Governors responded last week by updating and reaffirming its long-standing policy position advocating adequate state funding and staffing of DA offices to assure effective prosecution of criminal cases.
Only state government can avoid a crisis in prosecutor office staffing statewide because all DAs and their assistants were made state employees in 1990. “The goal was to professionalize the prosecution function by increasing pay and retaining experienced prosecutors,” explains Kenosha County ADA Richard Ginkowski. “But since that time the state hasn’t adequately staffed district attorneys’ offices and redlined younger prosecutors at entry level pay.”
One result has been a chronic shortfall in prosecutor staffing. A 2008 state audit revealed that Wisconsin had 117 fewer prosecutors than needed to adequately handle the existing caseload and that staffing trends were moving in the wrong direction. The audit showed, for example, that the number of prosecutors in the state dropped 4.4% between 2002 and 2006 while the number of cases referred for prosecution increased 11.5%.
The state has already required ADAs to take ten unpaid furlough days during the current two-year state budget cycle (the maximum allowed under the state’s contract with ADAs) to help balance the state budget. With about 400 prosecutors affected statewide, this translates into about 4000 days when ADAs will not be in their offices or in court prosecuting criminals. The Association of State Prosecutors, which represents ADAs, has refused to go along with a request from the state that prosecutors take an additional six unpaid furlough days over the two-year period. The state has since distributed notices indicating that it is developing plans to layoff prosecutors to close the funding gap.
Kenosha County District Attorney Robert D. Zapf warns that more furlough days would have a devastating impact on the capacity of DA offices statewide to protect the public by prosecuting criminal cases. “In my office alone that’s a loss of more than seven months of productivity,” Zapf notes.
If the state follows through on its plans to cut positions, the impact would be so severe that Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco has cautioned that if he loses even one ADA position he will be forced to forego prosecutions of all misdemeanors except domestic violence cases.
Ginkowski stresses that fewer prosecutors inevitably means fewer prosecutions of cases that directly impact Wisconsin households: “I have a growing stack of complicated major economic fraud cases on the back burner because there aren’t enough hours in the day to handle violent crimes,” he notes. “At the end of the day our victims – usually hardworking taxpayers – are the people getting shortchanged.”
“The crisis in our state’s prosecution function needs to be addressed, not just on a short-term basis but with an eye toward long-term solutions,” Zapf argues. “Crime victims should not have to risk that prosecution of their cases may be delayed or denied due to inadequate staffing or handled by overwhelmed and inexperienced prosecutors.”
Zapf points out that cuts to the district attorney program hit harder than in most other state agencies because almost 100% of the program’s budget is salaries. “Because counties fund clerical staff and office expenses, it’s not like we can forego buying a new copier or making a squad car last another year in order to balance the budget,” he explains.
Noting that public safety is an “essential and primary role of government,” Gary Gomez, a young La Crosse County ADA, worries that even at current staffing levels cases “cannot be prosecuted as vigorously as the people of Wisconsin deserve. Plain and simple, cases take longer and more plea bargains get struck, and the result is less justice for both victims and defendants.”
The State Bar’s revised position on prosecutor funding and staffing states that:
The State Bar of Wisconsin supports reasonable caseload standards for prosecutors that will ensure effective representation of the public in criminal cases. The State Bar of Wisconsin supports adequate funding for additional staff necessary to maintain reasonable caseloads in District Attorney offices. Understaffing and underfunding of District Attorney’s offices threatens the quality of justice in the criminal justice system by depriving the public of effective representation.
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