MILWAUKEE — While Wisconsin lawmakers are putting a major focus on sending more state funding back to municipalities, they’re also eyeing massive pay increases for crucial employees in the justice system.
Starting pay for prosecutors and public defenders in Wisconsin is about $57,000 a year. That would jump to $75,000 under a new legislative bill. Advocates say it would offer a huge incentive to retain staff.
As a former Milwaukee County prosecutor, Allison Ritter knows being overworked and underpaid is part of the important job.
"A lot of people in the prosecutors’ office and the public defenders’ office have to have a second job just to support their families,” she said.
Ritter believes that unfortunate reality is leading to historic turnover among Wisconsin’s prosecutors and public defenders.
Prosecutors charge and try criminal defendants to provide justice to victims. Public defenders represent the accused who can’t afford their own attorney.
New state data shows one in five left their jobs last year. That’s twice as many as five years ago.
"If you want to retain those people that you've spent those years training and really get them to look forward to a career in this type of public service then you have to pay them a living wage,” Ritter said.
That’s what a Republican-backed bill intends to do. It would give court system attorneys an $18,220 raise no matter how long they’ve been on the job.
"There's never been a significant jump like this,” said Adam Plotkin with the state’s public defenders office in Madison.
"We really have to compensate them,” he said. “They're coming out of school with significant debts. They want to start a family, they want to buy a house but we need to keep them doing the work."
Let’s compare starting public defender salaries to a couple of other states. Neighboring Minnesota offers $70,000. Texas is on the high end at $85,000.
"Low pay has driven some of the most significant turnover and vacancy rates that we've seen in many, many years,” Plotkin said.
Plotkin says it isn’t just about preventing turnover, but also encouraging more attorneys to apply.
This bill received unanimous support earlier this week in the Joint Finance Committee. It’s heading to the full legislature in the coming weeks. It’s also important to note that Governor Tony Evers put a nearly identical plan in his state budget.
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