By: Michaela Paukner, [email protected]//July 20, 2020//
By: Michaela Paukner, [email protected]//July 20, 2020//
The Wisconsin Joint Committee on Finance has conditionally approved money for two full-time assistant district attorney positions in Milwaukee County.
In June, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office requested approval from the JFC to use a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Justice to pay the salaries for two prosecutors through September. The current grant funding the positions runs out this month, but the county expects to receive a new grant in October.
The county can pay the prosecutors in the interim, but it needs approval from the JFC to do so because the positions are paid by the state.
On Monday, JFC Senate Chair Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Assembly Chair John Nygren, R-Marinette, informed the Department of Administration secretary that no one on the committee had objected to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office’s request.
The request was, therefore, passively approved on the condition that the approval didn’t constitute a commitment of any current or future general purpose revenue funding.
The two prosecutors work exclusively on domestic-violence cases. They handle felony caseloads vertically, meaning the same prosecutor will handle a case from start to finish.