Marinette County DA resigns amid fight for prosecutor raises

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MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin attorney has decided to resign, saying an unmanageable workload and a lack of resources is driving him away.

WLUK-TV reported that Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey is resigning next month. He and other Wisconsin prosecutors have been asking for more resources for years.

Brey said he doesn’t have enough lawyers, support staff or resources to get through more than 400 cases waiting to be reviewed.

“I really hadn’t realized that every Saturday and every Sunday morning at 8 o’clock I was here and the number of hours I was putting in. So, everything else in my life was suffering. Yet I was so close to it, I didn’t see it. My family saw it,” Brey said.

The attorney general’s office said in a statement to the TV station that nearly all Wisconsin DA offices are struggling with the workload and that if the state doesn’t address the understaffing problem, innocent crime victims will suffer.

“If you’re a crime victim in this county, you can expect if your case is not immediately filed you will have to wait about two years before it will be,” Brey said.

The Department of Administration put in a budget request last year for 96 new prosecutors.

Gov. Scott Walker wants to provide $3.7 million for salary increases over two years but his budget proposal includes no additional positions.

In an email to the TV station, the governor’s office said the money will provide “a base-building salary increase of nearly $4,100 for eligible counsel with at least one year of service.”