BROWN COUNTY, Wis. — At the current rate of $40 per hour, private attorneys aren't taking cases from the State Public Defender's Office.
It's left people charged with a crime sitting in jail for months before they ever see a judge.
Several people from different sides of the system expressed a frustration at the problem, but there is no consensus solution.
"It's simply the politicians who are unable to come up with an agreement as to how much the attorneys should get paid that is causing this," Brown County circuit court judge Thomas Walsh said.
Wisconsin's rate for these cases is one of the lowest in the country, and it hasn't been raised since 1995. Under the state budget, that is set to change in 2020, when private attorneys will make $70 per hour on these cases. The rate for court-appointed attorneys will go from $70 per hour to $100.
"I think it's going to make a substantial difference," public defender's office regional attorney manager Jeffrey Cano said. "It's not going to be a cure all, but I think it'll be substantial."
Others view a one-time rate change as a temporary fix to a problem that will keep coming up.
"They're trying to get in as cheap as they can possibly get in and not really solve the problem," retired attorney and Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers member Hank Schultz said.
Schultz said the rate going to $70 per hour may cover overhead but not much more. He wants to see a rate indexed to inflation, and a separate budget line for the private side of the system. He said funding will never be popular, but it's essential for the system.
"If we don't get it fixed now, it'll be another 40 years," Schultz said.
