By Adam Korbitz, Government Relations Coordinator, State Bar of Wisconsin

Nov. 2, 2010 – State Public Defender Nicholas Chiarkas has told legislative and administration officials that the SPD’s private bar appropriation will run out of money sometime in February 2011, at least five months prior to the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year.

In a letter to the Joint Committee on Finance, Chiarkas estimated the biennial shortfall to be between $9.2 million and $9.5 million. The SPD is required by statute to file quarterly reports 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 and Sept. 30, 2010, the SPD appointed counsel in 34,013 cases, including 14,368 that were assigned to private bar attorneys on a rotational or contract basis.

“We will continue to work with staff in the State Budget Office to identify additional ways to address the remaining shortfall to avoid ceasing payments to private bar attorneys from February to July,” Chiarkas said in the letter.

However, if funds do run out in February, private attorneys accepting SPD appointments can expect no payments from the office until the state’s next fiscal year begins on July 1, 2011.

Earlier this year, Chiarkas told a local news service his agency is “cautiously hopeful” the Department of Administration and the Legislature will provide the funds necessary to pay private bar lawyers. Chiarkas also said at that time that the projected deficit continues a long history of legislative under-funding of the biennial private bar appropriation, resulting in deficits during the second year of the biennium, which ends on June 30, 2011.

When the Legislature passed the current state budget in 2009, it did not include the SPD’s request to fully fund the private bar appropriation and actually reduced the appropriation by $1.5 million.

Petition filed to increase Supreme Court rate for court-appointed attorneys

In a related development, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will hold a public hearing Nov. 9 on a petition filed by several Wisconsin attorneys to increase the rate for court-appointed attorneys to $80 per hour.

The group filing the petition includes eight past presidents of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

If approved by the court, the petition would increase the Supreme Court rate under SCR 81.02 to $80 per hour and index the rate to the consumer price index. The current Supreme Court rate for court-appointed attorneys such as GALs is set by rule at $70 per hour. However, this rate does not apply to the SPD private bar appointments, which are set by statute at $40 per hour.

While the petition would not directly set SPD private bar rates, it would provide that payment of an hourly rate less than the rate set forth in SCR 81.02(1) for legal services rendered pursuant to appointment by the SPD under Wis. Stat. section 977.08 is unreasonable.

On May 4, 2010, the State Bar’s Board of Governors voted to support the petition.

The attorneys who filed the petition March 5 also filed a supporting memorandum, which notes that the current rate of compensation in federal court for appointed counsel in criminal cases is $125 an hour. The memorandum also states that the proposed amendment would permit lawyers representing indigent criminal defendants and the defendants themselves to assert that a rate of compensation less than $80 per hour is unreasonable, by Supreme Court Rule.

Continue to monitor WisBar.org and visit the State Bar’s Government Relations page for updated information on these issues.

 

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