Attorneys for poor could get a raise

State hires private lawyers when Public Defender’s office can’t handle workload

MADISON - Republicans in the state Assembly came out Monday in support of raising the pay for attorneys representing poor defendants as the state faces a class-action lawsuit over the issue.

Assembly Republicans said they also backed hiring 61 more assistant district attorneys and raising pay for prosecutors, public defenders and correctional officers.

Their plan would cost about $50 million over two years, according to Republican Rep. Mark Born of Beaver Dam, who sits on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

“These initiatives are tough but smart on crime,” Born said at a news conference in the state Capitol.

He did not make public many details of the plan, including how much of a raise correctional officers and others would get.

Wisconsin pays private attorneys $40 an hour to represent criminal defendants when the State Public Defender’s office can’t handle the work. That’s the lowest rate in the nation and many attorneys say it doesn’t cover their overhead costs.

The plan Born announced Monday would raise the pay to $70 an hour. That increase would cost taxpayers about $33 million over two years, according to state records.

Because of the existing rate, private attorneys often refuse to take cases, leading to delays in getting defendants representation.

Last month, six people facing charges in Ashland and Bayfield counties sued in federal court over the issue.

The public defender’s office outsources up to 40 percent of its cases because it doesn’t have enough attorneys to cover all of them and sometimes has conflicts that prevent it from representing some defendants.

In rural areas, it can take weeks to find private attorneys for defendants.

So far, lawmakers have declined to put more money toward the issue. The state Supreme Court last year declined to establish higher pay rates for such attorneys but called the matter “an emerging constitutional crisis.”

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers plans to include similar measures in the budget he introduces next week.

“It’s good to hear that these provisions will have Republican support in the Legislature,” Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said in a statement.

Republicans held simultaneous news conferences around the state Monday about their plan. Milwaukee criminal defense attorney John Birdsall showed up at the one held in Waukesha.

Birdsall, who has long advocated for raising the pay for private attorneys, asked those at the news conference why they weren’t backing raising the rate to $100 an hour or more. Wisconsin will remain a top target for litigation if it doesn’t do so, he said.

Opponents of Wisconsin’s system and the delays it causes argue the pay rate infringes on defendants’ right to a speedy trial, right to confront accusers and right to assistance from counsel.

The plan announced Monday has the backing of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, Public Defender Kelli Thompson and Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg, the president-elect of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association.

In a later statement on behalf of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Birdsall called most of the proposal admirable but said increasing the appointment rate to $70 “largely misses the mark.”

The association, he said, supports a separate bill that would remove the function of assigned counsel from the State Public Defender, set the pay rates at $100 to $140 and index the rates to inflation.

The group “hopes to work with the members of the Legislature to achieve a permanent and sustainable solution to this ever-worsening crisis,” he said.