The understaffing of prosecutors is considered to be a major problem with the state judicial system these days. Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard is supporting a new effort that calls on the state to fund DA offices across Wisconsin at levels recommended by a Legislative Audit Bureau report last year.
He cites a recent successful push to hire more analysts in the state crime lab as an example of what can happen with the right support from lawmakers. He calls the staffing of District Attorneys an "equally critical" issue.
The resolution, proposed by a Dane County Board Committee, also calls for a new pay scale for prosecutors to keep experienced staffers with the state. Blanchard says mid-level prosecutors are being lured away to private practice.
Just about every stakeholder in the state justice system has endorsed the ideas in the resolution, but so far the cry has fallen on deaf ears in the state Capitol.
(Contributed by Jason Fischer-WIBA)