Oconto County asks higher pay for assistant district attorneys

At least 40 openings exist for assistant district attorneys among the 72 Wisconsin counties, including Oconto County.

In fact, until newly appointed District Attorney Hannah Schuchart reported for duty Oct. 31, Oconto County had gone four months without any full-time lawyers in the district attorney’s office.

Schuchart was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of former DA Edward Burke, effective Sept. 1. Burke had been out on administrative health leave for about two months, and former assistant district attorney Lisa Rowe had taken a new job in Madison in May.

A cadre of assistant district attorneys from Brown County has been dividing up the Oconto County caseload among their other duties all summer. Several major trials have been delayed for lack of a prosecutor who has time to prepare those cases.

Even before Rowe left, Burke had been asking the state to authorize a second assistant DA for Oconto County, citing the growing caseload on the two-attorney office. The single ADA position remains open, and the county recently passed its 200th felony case of 2022.

The County Board on Oct. 20 passed a resolution addressing that shortage and asking the state to increase the entry-level wage for ADAs.

The resolution introduced by the county public safety committee notes that entry-level ADAs make $26.70 an hour or about $55,000 a year, a rate that “has not kept up with the rate of inflation and sits well below the national average for similar positions in district attorney offices across the country.”

The rate is also well below the compensation for other public-sector positions both in the county and around the state, according to the resolution.

“Assistant district attorneys serve as the backbone of the State of Wisconsin’s ability to prosecute cases in all of its 72 counties,” the board declared. “Any shortage of these assistant district attorneys creates backups in the justice system, which can lengthen cases, create more pressure on existing staff and delay or deny justice to individuals party to these cases.”

The resolution asks the state to review and revise entry-level pay for assistant district attorneys in an effort to remain competitive. Copies of the resolution were sent to the governor’s office, members of the state Assembly and Senate, every other county and the Wisconsin Counties Association.