Walworth County DA concerned about caseload
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Phillip Koss
ELKHORN — State-imposed furloughs on assistant district attorneys could make prosecuting criminals in Walworth County challenging over the next year, the county’s top prosecutor said.
District Attorney Phil Koss said his already-understaffed office could take longer to process cases if state officials proceed with forcing attorneys to take eight unpaid days to balance Wisconsin’s budget shortfall.
“I’m concerned about our ability to do things timely and to respond adequately to the public’s concern about prosecuting criminals,” Koss said.
Koss is caught in a battle between state officials and Wisconsin’s Association of State Prosecutors, the union representing assistant district attorneys. The state is asking for eight days between now and the middle of next year, a 3 percent reduction on salaries for state employees. Association officials say their contract protects state prosecutors against more than five furlough days.
Manitowoc County Assistant District Attorney Douglass Jones, a member of the association, said the majority of the nearly 300 union members in November voted against eight days of unpaid leave.
Jones said his office also is understaffed and is struggling with reducing its attorneys’ hours.
“One of the things I did today was to look at suggestions for what to cut out,” Jones said. “We had discussions about what are we not going to do. Those are the discussions that are happening now.
“We’re in a critical position in terms of staffing. What do you do? No politician has an answer for that.”
Caseload is a concern shared by many members of the prosecutors union, he added.
“My office functions at less than three-quarters of attorney staffing the state says we should have,” Jones said. “Now the governor wants to take away another 3 percent. Where does it come from?”
The Walworth County District Attorney’s Office has five prosecutors: Koss, Deputy District Attorney Joshua Grube and assistant district attorneys Diane Donohoo, Steven Madson and Zeke Wiedenfeld.
Koss is an elected official and cannot have his salary reduced during the term of his term in office. Grube is not a member of the union because he is not an assistant district attorney and will take eight days of unpaid leave.
That leaves Koss stuck on what to do with Donohoo, Madson and Wiedenfeld. The district attorney said he can’t implement a furlough plan until there is an agreement between the state and the prosecutors union.
“We’re up in the air right now,” Koss said. “We haven’t implemented any furloughs yet and that worries me.
“I’ve been prosecuting here since 1989. We’ve added judges, police officers, a population of 25,000 people but we have not added any prosecutors.”
Feb 9, 2010 at 3:52 p.m.
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I agree with lussonee. Drop the frivolous cases and get on with real police business. Especially in Macon -- oops, Walworth County
Dec 8, 2009 at 12:05 p.m.
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no, the police officers enforce the law. The DA and courts prosecute the cases.
Dec 6, 2009 at 2:29 p.m.
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Law enforcement issues citations, or not, based on the statements given by the reporting party and the person accused. The court and DA's office enforce the law. Cases are dismissed by the court because they are not what they seemed to be in the field. People are found not guilty because details are revealed in court that were not available or offered at the time that officers responded to the call. Feeding every little matter through the court system, including frivolous cases, is what overloads the system.
Dec 4, 2009 at 6:36 a.m.
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ummmm...what?? police aren't paid to enforce the law? who is then? might be way off here but I'm pretty sure the whole protecting and serving process is going to involve some sort or enforcement of the law.
Dec 3, 2009 at 9:45 p.m.
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I never attacked the DA's office. I questioned the process that allowed the DA's office to be overwhelmed. The DA's office also prosecutes ordinance violations. These are the citations that are issued to cover incidents that do not fall under traffic or criminal law. If you are issued a citation and chose to contest it you will deal with the DA's office. I believe that a fare number of these cases could be mediated in the field if law enforcement officers were given the lattitude to use their gut feelings and common sense. Police are not paid to "enforce the laws", they are paid to "serve and protect". That does'nt mean leaving your common sense at the door when you leave the house. Lets find a solution instead of questioning each others knowledge of the law!
Dec 2, 2009 at 8:47 p.m.
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lussonee...not sure what you think you know about citations and the court system, but the vast majority of citations are mediated by a traffic court officer well before the DA's office ever gets involved. The person who got the ticket meets with a TCO and then tries to work a deal on the ticket. If no deal can be worked out then the DA would get the case to obviously prosecute. The cases the DA is referring to are criminal cases...OWI 2nd or higher, driving revoked, battery, burglary, domestic violence, etc. Seems to me a mediated outcome would involve someone getting a ticket and not arrested. Therefore tickets being written actually keep cases out of the DA's office. Now if we can just keep those pesky criminals from committing crimes then everyone would be out of work. Wonder what the chances of that happening are???
Dec 2, 2009 at 8:10 a.m.
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Join the club. I work for the state and have already been made to take 4 furlough days this year and will be taking another 8 next year. Everyone that works for the state is required to do so. It's hurting workloads and incomes all over.....not just you.
Dec 1, 2009 at 8:03 p.m.
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The police are writting tickets as fast as they can. If they tried to mediate ,the DA's office would'nt be over worked. Commen sense and even handedness on behalf of law enforcement would reduce the numbers of cases being prosecuted. Law enforcement officers are writting citations to close a case and passing it on to the court system . It should'nt surprise anyone when the court,DA,public defender et. al. costs go up. The number of frivolous cases going through the court system is staggering. The time being spent on those cases could be reduced by everyone keeping a level head and not being focused on winning or losing the case.
Dec 1, 2009 at 5:05 p.m.
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Opps...concentrate, sorry.
Dec 1, 2009 at 5:04 p.m.
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Don't worry about it, now that the Governor has declared Juneteenth Day an official holiday he will be able to consentrate on your piddley little problem.
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