Resolution follows state Supreme Court order

By Robert Cloud

Waupaca County supervisors voted 14-10 to give court-appointed attorneys a raise.

The county board approved a resolution on Tuesday, Aug. 20, to increase compensation for court-appointed attorneys from $70 an hour to $100 an hour.

The county’s raise was in response to a state Supreme Court decision.

Last year, the high court ruled in favor of a petition to increase pay for court-appointed attorneys.

The decision noted the $70 an hour compensation had not been raised since 1994.

It also said the courts have recognized the necessity of court-appointed counsel for the poor, the court’s inherent authority to appoint such counsel and the counties’ obligation to pay for it since 1859.

The state Supreme Court has administrative oversight over all other courts in Wisconsin.

In a dissent to the majority opinion, Justice Daniel Kelly argued the court was trespassing on authority that belongs to others.

“The power of the purse belongs to the legislature, not us,” Kelley wrote.

The courts do not have the authority to order counties what to pay court-appointed attorneys.

The goal of the majority decision, however, was not merely to give court-appointed attorneys a raise.

It was to nudge the state legislature into approving an increase in the pay of public defenders.

Currently, Wisconsin’s pay for public defenders is $40 an hour.

That is the lowest in the nation, Kelley noted.

Waupaca County discussion

Basically, the state funds public defenders, but counties fund court-appointed attorneys.

During discussion of the resolution, Corporation Counsel Diane Meulemans explained there are two tiers of assistance with legal costs.
Public defenders are for low-income criminal defendants who cannot afford counsel.

Court-appointed attorneys are for clients in both criminal and civil cases who do not qualify for public defenders, but who need help paying for counsel.

They are required to make monthly payments, which the county collects.

Meulemans said the county will withhold the attorney’s fees from clients’ pay if they are working.

Suprevisor Pat Craig questioned the economic impact of the raise.

She asked how many people needed to use court-appointed attorneys in 2018 and how difficult it was to find court-appointed attorneys at the lower rate.

“What is the projected amount that we are expected to pay?” Craig asked.

Meulemans said she did not know what the total cost was in 2018.

She also said the cost is “a fluid number because we don’t know how many people will be charged with a crime needing representation who are not income eligible for public defenders.”

The Wisconsin Counties Association has proposed resolutions that the state legislature “fund this mandate that is being put upon us by the state Supreme Court,” Craig said.

“If we simply say we’re going to pay it, then why should the legislature give us money back?” Craig asked. “We’ve already agreed to pay it. It’s coming out of our budget.”