Wisconsin's Public Defender Eligibility Bill Moves Forward


	Print or Email This Page Wisconsin's Public Defender Eligibility Bill Moves Forward February 4, 2004 Wisconsin Law Journal By Tony Anderson A state Assembly bill that would bring the eligibility standard for State Public Defender representation into line with W-2 standards took one step forward in the approval process last week. The Assembly Corrections and Court Committee approved Assembly Bill 616 and referred it to the Joint Finance Committee. The approval came Jan. 28 with a 6-3 vote. The bill would change the current standards - still based on 1987 AFDC eligibility - to mirror W-2 eligibility, and create an estimated additional 44.25 full-time staff positions at the SPD. That would include the equivalent of 29 full-time attorneys and 15.25 full-time staff people. If approved, the bill is slated to take effect May 1, 2005. Beginning during that next budget year, the state would assume responsibility for representation of approximately 13,000 cases per year, where the counties currently provide representation. The estimated cost to the state would be $3.4 million. In 2001, the latest available figures, Wisconsin counties reported spending nearly $2.8 million on indigent defense. Under the proposed criteria, a person would be indigent for purposes of SPD representation if his household income does not exceed 115 percent of the federal poverty guideline and the household assets - after excluding up to $10,000 for a vehicle and the value of the person's home (up to $30,000) - do not exceed $2,500. Rep. Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay), chair of the Corrections and Court Committee, supported approval of the bill. Bies, who worked for the Door County Sheriff's Department for 30 years, said he spent time as a bailiff and witnessed the problems of people circulating through the court system without proper legal counsel. "I know the rigamarole that can happen when people have inadequate representation, the extra work that the court has to go through," Bies told the Wisconsin Law Journal. "There's a strong need to provide that representation, so we can actually help the court system out rather than hinder it." Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) cast one of the three votes opposing the bill. Suder described his concerns as twofold. "One, if you are going to do this, you have to also provide some prosecutor positions to make sure the scales of justice are balanced," Suder said. "And two, we just don't have the money. We still have a structural deficit. We can't be spending millions of dollars each biennium from state coffers that we don't have." Due to the fiscal issues that the state is dealing with, Suder predicted that the bill would get bogged down. Randy Kraft, a spokesperson for the State Public Defender's office, was optimistic about the bill. "The SPD is certainly encouraged that this bill is making its way through the process and will ultimately provide justice for all," Kraft said. Because of the fiscal element, AB616 has been referred to the Joint Finance Committee. Bill sponsor Rep. Teri McCormick (R-Appleton) said she was encouraged by the strong bipartisan support for the bill. McCormick acknowledged that the bill will need some support from the executive branch during its next phase. "It's my hope to have a good discussion with [Department of Administration Secretary] Marc Marotta and other members of the Doyle administration to secure funds for this so the Joint Finance Committee can look more favorably on the bill," McCormick said. McCormick contends that AB616 is supposed to streamline costs and create a more efficient system of providing legal defense through the State Public Defender. The bill would also create guidelines for SPD representation that are more realistic. "Literally, if you make $2.87 an hour, you would make too much money to qualify for an appointed public defender," McCormick said. Bies observed that, he expects the bill to provide an overall savings in terms of cost and court time required to deal with the representation issue.
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