SPD faces funding crunch

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After helping structure the 2005-07 budget for the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office, Rep. Kitty Rhoades believed the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance had corrected the recurring budgetary issues that have annually plagued the SPD.

That optimism was dashed when a $12.7 million shortage in funding for private attorneys was recently revealed. The money crunch left the SPD unable to operate through its fiscal calendar, which concludes in July 2007.

State legislators approved an additional $3 million on Dec. 14 and will allow the SPD to provide compensation for private practice attorneys through Feb. 5, 2007.

Rhoades, who will become State Assembly Chair of the Finance Committee on Jan. 3, 2007, attributed the shortage to a formulaic miscalculation.

“We went on the numbers we were given by the Public Defender’s Office and the Fiscal Bureau, but something clearly wasn’t included in the formula,” said Rhoades. “I honestly thought we had filled in the hole.”

Chairman of the State Public Defender Board, Daniel M. Berkos, said the gap was expected and that the problem was not going to “fix itself.”

“This wasn’t a surprise, but the fact that it happened earlier than in years past was more unexpected,” said Berkos, who noted that each year there is a contingency fund built into the budget for the SPD.

The rise in caseloads is the main culprit for the broadening budget gap according to Berkos who estimated that nearly 150,000 appointments will be handled this year, an increase of nearly 6,000 from 2005.

Figures provided by Megan Christiansen, State Public Defender budget director, have shown a steady increase in appointments over the last five years. An average of 123,000 cases per year were processed by the SPD from 1997-2001, compared to an average of 140,000 annually from 2002-05.

Berkos attributed a substantial portion of the increase to district attorneys who have filed more cases, which are handled through the SPD.

“They are not necessarily violent crimes, but traffic citations or domestic abuse,” said Berkos. “Caseload means different things to different people. Just because reports indicate crime is down, that doesn’t mean our cases have decreased.”

Christiansen added that the SPD has not increased staff to coincide with rising caseloads and private attorneys are responsible, if not obligated, to lend their legal services to the cause.

“Private attorneys take the brunt of the increase and finding one who will take on a case at $40 an hour is not that easy,” said Christiansen.

Berkos echoed the point by noting that some private attorneys may lose $25-$40 an hour working for the SPD.

While the number of private attorneys who take on cases is not forecasted to jump anytime soon, Rhoades expected another re-examination of the SPD funding prior to the finalization of the state budget.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of people diligently working their pencils,” said Rhoades. “Right now they can get to February, but I’m not sure what will happen after that.”

Berkos seemed confident that the remainder of the funding would be approved as early as January, though the request would need to pass through the Joint Finance Committee and be adopted by Gov. Jim Doyle.

“We’ve kept the Legislature up to date with our situation and I believe we have a good relationship with them,” said Berkos. “I think we all want the same thing in the end, to make this situation right.”