Claims Board backs bill to increase compensation for wrongly incarcerated

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Members of the Wisconsin Claims Board, which acts as an arbiter in disputes against the state, expressed support Thursday for a bill that would increase the compensation the wrongly incarcerated can receive for each year spent behind bars.

Assembly Bill 534, which has yet to receive a public hearing before a legislative committee, would increase from $5,000 to $15,000 the maximum amount of compensation that a wrongly convicted person could receive for each year of imprisonment. The total amount that could be awarded also would be capped at $200,000.

The proposed legislation is an alternative to Assembly Bill 519, which would increase the compensation amount to $50,000 a year and place no cap on the total that could be awarded.

Wisconsin now allows $5,000 for each year of imprisonment, up to a maximum of $25,000. Advocates for the proposed change have noted that the amount of compensation Wisconsin offers is the lowest among states that provide money.

A sponsor of AB 534, state Rep. Pat Strachota, R-West Bend, has pointed out that 21 states provide no monetary compensation for wrongful convictions.

The bills differ in a number of other ways; chiefly in the role they would assign the Claims Board.

AB 534 would prevent judges from overturning decisions made by the board, whereas AB 519 would leave the decisions entirely in the hands of administrative law judges.

AB 534 was introduced the same day the Claims Board decided to award David Turnpaugh of Milwaukee $36,847.89 for the three days he spent in jail and 57 days on house arrest for a prostitution conviction of which he eventually was exonerated. The award came following Turnpaugh’s third appearance before the Claims Board; he successfully appealed the first two rejections of his claim in the courts.

Strachota said Thursday that one goal of AB 538 will be to make it clear that the Claims Board is a board of equity and thus operates under different standards than a court of law. Follow @TDR_WLJDan