Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has directed $50 million in federal funds to what he calls community safety projects around the state. Almost 40% of that money will go to Milwaukee and Milwaukee County for criminal justice initiatives, with some aimed at reducing the backlog in the county's criminal court system.
The COVID-19 pandemic halted many trials, though some were eventually conducted over Zoom. Milwaukee County Chief Judge Mary Triggiano said a backlog developed, one that is hard to shrink.
"What you've gotta realize is every court, every calendar is working overtime to get their calendars done. But when you have double the caseload, you're disposing of cases but you're also getting new cases in, as they're filed and prosecuted. So, you're never able to keep up and the backlog stays sort of constant. It's not increasing like it used to in 2020 when we had only some of our jury trials going," Triggiano said Tuesday.
But with Evers now providing $14 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Triggiano has a plan to expand courthouse operations and clear up the backlog. She said the main idea is to create five new courtrooms to deal with criminal cases, and either make more use of reserve judges or reassign some judges from other divisions.
"So, if every judge in the criminal division — I have 14 felony judges and I have seven misdemeanor judges — if they all had help, I could shift some of their cases, potentially a third, over to the new courtrooms to resolve those cases faster, and those new courts would not get more cases so they could focus on simply reducing those numbers. So, I'm hoping in 18 months, the backlog will be all but gone," she said.
But Triggiano cautioned that to reach that goal by the middle of next year, a lot of people, other than judges, will need to be hired or reassigned.
"So, the district attorney's office will have to hire additional staff to support these courts. The public defender's office and criminal defense attorneys will have to figure out how to get additional resources so those cases can be done in those courts. We also have deputy court clerks who need to be hired so they can help support the judges, notice and make sure the cases are moving smoothly, and we also need court reporters. There's a national shortage of court reporters and a local shortage of court reporters. So, we're working with different technologies, including our digital audio recording systems," she said.
Evers said another $16 million is being allocated statewide to backlog reduction. Nearly $6 million will go to the state public defender to establish roving teams, providing assistance where it's needed most. About the same amount will create more assistant district attorney positions and fill existing vacant ones. The rest is for expanded work by the state crime lab.
At a Milwaukee news conference, reporters asked the governor what happens when these apparently one-time federal funds run out.
He replied: "That gets us through a pandemic, a pandemic that isn't frankly over. But what it does do is put the state in a position where we must, must increase shared revenue, especially for our largest city."
To increase that state support, Democrat Evers will need help from Republicans who control the Legislature now, and who are expected to stay in charge after the November elections.
Early reaction from the GOP is not friendly. Racine state Sen. Van Wanggaard said if Evers is serious about stopping crime, he would spend ARPA money on more cops, push for more jail time and push for bail reform. The lawmaker called the governor's current plan "feel good garbage. “
Evers said the latest $50 million for community safety is on top of $45 million last year. He said he's not soft on crime.
"They're going to say that, regardless. And frankly, I don't care. The bottom line is we delivered where the state Legislature has failed. You know, maybe they can start talking about that in one of their ads," Evers said.
Some of the other money the governor announced Tuesday will go to local and tribal law enforcement agencies for training, recruitment bonuses, community policing needs and technology.
Republicans claim those are their ideas.
