By Tom Solberg, State Bar Media Relations Coordinator
Dec. 14, 2010 – The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance today approved $5.4 million in one-time supplemental funding for the Office of the State Public Defender (SPD) to offset a projected budget shortfall of up to $9.5 million, primarily in the private bar reimbursement appropriation [§ 20.550(1)(d)].
The SPD requested the supplemental funding under the committee’s authority created by Wis. Stat. section 13.10 after it filed a report in August summarizing private bar and staff case loads at the trial and appellate levels, together with actual and projected expenditures for related activities.
Between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, the SPD appointed counsel in 130,709 cases, including 53,579 assigned to private bar attorneys on a rotational or contract basis. The projected shortfall for the 2009-11 biennium, which ends on June 30, 2011, would have resulted in the appropriation’s depletion by February 2011 if supplemental funding had not been provided.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated that the $5.4 million supplement will be sufficient to meet obligations through April 2011 (attorneys requesting payments after that point are unlikely to be paid until the state’s next fiscal year begins on July 1, 2011). The funding was unanimously (15-0) approved by the JFC as part of an omnibus motion that also included unrelated items.
The funding shortfall had also been partially offset earlier in the year by transferring remaining FY2010 SPD staff salary and fringe benefit balances of $882,145 to the private bar appropriation.
To stretch the remaining dollars as far as possible, the SPD is implementing several measures, including limits on the payment of interim bills for experts, supplemental bills and bills older than six months.
The State Bar offers a free CLE seminar for attorneys who sign up for public defender appointments and take five cases. The effort assists the SPD in meeting the ever-increasing need for additional private appointment attorneys. Attorneys eligible for the program must be new to the private bar appointment list or not have taken a case from the SPD's office in at least two years. To sign up for the program, contact attorney Deborah M. Smith at (608) 261-8856.
Related articles:
SPD projects private bar appropriation shortfall of up to $9+ million – Aug. 25, 2010
Bill to increase SPD private bar rate dies as Legislature adjourns for the year– May 12, 2010
Assembly gives final passage to bill to expand public defender eligibility limits – March 5, 2010
State Bar testifies in support of increased private bar reimbursement – June 3, 2009
Rotunda Report is the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Government Relations e-newsletter that highlights legislative, judicial, and administrative developments that impact the legal profession and the justice system. It is published twice a month and is distributed free to attorneys, public officials and others who help shape public policy in Wisconsin. We invite your suggestions to make the Rotunda Report more informative and useful and we encourage you to visit our Web site for the most current information about justice-related issues.
© 2010, State Bar of Wisconsin
