Legislation would nearly double public defender pay

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A set of bills introduced for the legislative session would nearly double the hourly amount private attorneys are paid for working on a case assigned by the State Public Defender.

The bill, introduced in the Senate by Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, and in the Assembly by Rep. Mandela Barnes, D-Milwaukee, would increase the hourly pay from $40 to $75.

If passed, the measure would increase the amount the amount paid to private attorneys from the State Public Defender by more than $16 million a year, according to a fiscal estimate document.

The fee has not changed in 20 years, according to the document, and was decreased in 1992, which places it “well below market rate.”

The bill was read for the first time in the Senate on Wednesday and was referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor. The Assembly bill was introduced June 11 and was referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

The bill would not change the $25-an-hour pay attorneys receive for traveling out of the county where their office is located, or for more than 30 miles of travel.

According to the fiscal estimate document, the State Public Defender assigned more than 56,000 cases to private attorneys statewide during the 2012 fiscal year.

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