Report: State courts, DOJ, DOC spent $97M on contractors in 2020

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A report from the Wisconsin Department of Administration shows state agencies within the criminal-justice system spent more than $97 million on services from outside contractors in fiscal year 2020.

The Wisconsin Department of Administration submitted an annual contractual-services report to the Joint Committee on Finance on Thursday. The state spent $878.8 million in total on contracting in fiscal year 2020, according to the report.

The state courts, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Justice and the Public Defender Board were responsible for $97,254,957 of that amount. Most comes from the Department of Corrections, which reported $79,432,919 in contractual-services spending.

Spending by agency within criminal-justice system

Agencies within the criminal-justice system reported spending the following amounts on contract services:

• Circuit courts: $809

  

• Department of Corrections: $79,432,919

  

• Court of Appeals: $24,989

  

• Judicial Commission: $2,548

  

• Department of Justice: $11,707,032

  

• Public Defender Board: $2,538,622

  

• Supreme Court: $3,548,038

  

State agency legal spending

State agencies spent $264,529 on contracted legal services in fiscal year 2020, according to the report. That’s a small fraction of the more than $716.1 million total spending. To compare, the category with the highest dollar amount, labeled as Professional Services – General, accounted for $311,072,266 in fiscal year 2020.

Here are the totals for each legal service and which agencies paid for them:

• Legal Services – Research: $17,435
  • Department of Administration: $1,064
  • Department of Justice: $6,247
  • Department of Workforce Development: $10,123
• Legal Services – Litigation: $0
• Legal Services – Collections: $144
  • Department of Natural Resources: $144
• Legal Services – Consulting: $82,190
  • Department of Administration: $12,059
  • Department of Workforce Development: $70,132
• Legal Services – Other: $164,760
  • Department of Administration: $5,664
  • Department of Employee Trust Funds: $5,367
  • Department of Financial Institutions: $40
  • Department of Health Services: $10,295
  • Department of Justice: $99,270
  • Department of Revenue: $500
  • Supreme Court: $21,576
  • Department of Workforce Development: $22,049

In addition, the report said agencies spent $107,035 on court reporters in fiscal year 2020.

Cost-benefit analyses for legal-related services

Agencies that estimate spending more than $50,000 on contractors must conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each proposed service. The report said agencies completed 377 CBAs in 2020. The Department of Corrections had the third-highest number of CBAs with 43 submitted. Other legal-related CBAs include:

• The UW System estimated $302,860 for outside legal advice on issues relevant to the UW campus, while state services would cost $186,324.
• The Department of Transportation estimated $367,084 for a contracted judicial outreach liaison, while state services would cost $561,871.
• The Department of Children and Families estimated $234,000 for outside guardian ad litum services, while state services would cost $529,812.
• The Department of Justice submitted two $573,000 estimates for outside technical architects, while state services would cost $354,724 each time.