Layoff Notices Spur Worries in Wisconsin DA Offices
Prosecutors’ offices in Wisconsin have received notices from the state that they will face layoffs, leading to public safety worries and contingency plans.
It’s not known how many layoffs are planned or when they will occur, according to WQOW18 and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The state budget crunch is forcing the cuts.
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen writes in the Capital Times that news of the layoffs comes even as district attorneys’ duties have expanded because of new laws. DA offices were already understaffed, he writes, citing a 2007 Legislative Audit Bureau report that prosecutor offices were short by 117 assistant district attorneys.
“Law enforcement and prosecutors I’ve met with throughout the state describe the prosecutor shortage as a serious threat to the criminal justice system,” he writes.
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco has announced his contingency plan if his office loses one of six full-time prosecutors, the Journal Sentinel says. He will no longer prosecute several types of misdemeanors, about 1,200 cases a year.
Stories in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune and the Appleton Post Crescent also detail the worries of local prosecutors.
