SB127: Bill Text

SB127,32 Section 32 . 978.12 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB127,17,3 978.12 (1) (c) Assistant district attorneys. Assistant district attorneys shall be employed outside the classified service. For purposes of salary administration, the administrator of the division of personnel management in the department of administration, in consultation with the office, shall establish one or more classifications for assistant district attorneys in accordance with the classification or classifications allocated to assistant attorneys general. Except as provided in ss. 111.93 (3) (b) and 230.12 (10), the salaries of assistant district attorneys shall be established and adjusted in accordance with the state compensation plan for assistant attorneys general whose positions are allocated to the classification or classifications established by the administrator of the division of personnel management in the department of administration under this paragraph.

SB127,33 Section 33 . Nonstatutory provisions.

SB127,17,5 (1) Student loan payment pilot program.

SB127,17,11 (a) The public defender board shall conduct a student loan payment pilot program for private bar attorneys who accept public defender appointments. The program shall provide up to $20,000 per year, or the outstanding balance on the attorney's student loans, whichever is less, to eligible attorneys to use to repay student loans. To be eligible to receive a payment under this paragraph in any calendar year, an attorney must meet all of the following criteria:

SB127,17,12 1. The attorney is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin.

SB127,17,13 2. The attorney is certified to accept state public defender appointments.

SB127,17,15 3. The attorney agrees to accept a minimum of 50 state public defender appointments per year.

SB127,17,18 4. The attorney maintains a law practice that either is headquartered or performs a demonstrated majority of its legal work in a county with a population of 25,000 or fewer residents.

SB127,17,20 5. The attorney has outstanding student loans that were incurred to obtain a juris doctor degree from an accredited university.

SB127,18,3 (b) An attorney who will meet all of the criteria under par. (a) may apply for the student loan payment pilot program beginning on January 1 of each year to qualify to receive a payment at the end of that year. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and all payments will be disbursed in the order that applications are received. At the end of the year, the attorney must certify that he or she has met all of the criteria for that year and must provide proof of his or her outstanding student loan balance on January 1 of that year to determine the payment amount that he or she is eligible to receive under the program.

SB127,18,11 (c) The public defender board may promulgate emergency rules under s. 227.24 to implement the program under par. (a ) for the period before the effective date of permanent rules but not to exceed the period authorized under s. 227.24 (1) (c), subject to extension under s. 227.24 (2). Notwithstanding s. 227.24 (1) (a), (2) (b), and (3), the board is not required to provide evidence that promulgating a rule under this paragraph as an emergency rule is necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare and is not required to provide a finding of emergency for a rule promulgated under this paragraph.

SB127,18,12 (2) Prosecutor board and state prosecutors office.

SB127,18,18 (a) Initial terms for prosecutor board members. Notwithstanding s. 15.77, of the members of the prosecutor board who are appointed as initial members, one member representing each district under s. 752.11 (1) (b) and (d) and one member under s. 15.77 (3) shall serve for a one-year term and one member representing the district under s. 752.11 (1) (c), one member under s. 15.77 (2), and one member under s. 15.77 (3) shall serve for a 2-year term.

SB127,18,19 (b) Transfer of state prosecutors office.

SB127,18,23 1. `Assets and liabilities.' On the effective date of this subdivision, the assets and liabilities of the department of administration that are primarily related to the state prosecutors office, as determined by the secretary of administration, become the assets and liabilities of the prosecutor board.

SB127,19,2 2. `Tangible personal property.' On the effective date of this subdivision, all tangible personal property, including records, of the department of administration that is primarily related to the state prosecutors office, as determined by the secretary of administration, is transferred to the prosecutor board.

SB127,19,8 3. `Contracts.' All contracts entered into by the department of administration that are primarily related to the state prosecutors office, as determined by the secretary of administration, in effect on the effective date of this subdivision, remain in effect and are transferred to the prosecutor board. The prosecutor board shall carry out any such contractual obligations unless modified or rescinded by the prosecutor board to the extent allowed under the contract.

SB127,19,14 4. `Pending matters.' Any matter pending with the department of administration that is primarily related to the state prosecutors office, as determined by the secretary of administration, on the effective date of this subdivision, is transferred to the prosecutor board, and all materials submitted to or actions taken by the department of administration, with respect to the pending matter are considered as having been submitted to or taken by the prosecutor board.

SB127,19,19 5. `Rules and orders.' All rules promulgated for the department of administration that are primarily related to the state prosecutors office, as determined by the secretary of administration, that are in effect on the effective date of this subdivision remain in effect until their specified expiration dates or until amended or repealed by the prosecutor board.

SB127,34 Section 34. Fiscal changes.

SB127,20,2 (1) District attorney pay progression. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the district attorneys under s. 20.475 (1) (em), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $1,600,000 to fund the assistant district attorney pay progression system. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the district attorneys under s. 20.475 (1) (em), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $3,200,000 to fund the assistant district attorney pay progression system.

SB127,20,11 (2) Additional assistant district attorney positions. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the district attorneys under s. 20.475 (1) (d), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $3,320,000 to increase the authorized FTE assistant district attorney positions by 60.85 positions. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the district attorneys under s. 20.475 (1) (d), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $4,427,000 to provide funding for the positions authorized under this subsection. The state prosecutors office shall determine the districts in which such assistant district attorneys shall be placed.

SB127,20,18 (3) Assigned counsel rate. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the public defender board under s. 20.550 (1) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $16,612,700 to pay private attorneys appointed under s. 977.08 (4m) (c) on or after July 1, 2019. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the public defender board under s. 20.550 (1) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $16,612,700 to pay private attorneys appointed under s. 977.08 (4m) (c) on or after July 1, 2019.

SB127,20,25 (4) Public defender pay progression. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the public defender board under s. 20.550 (1) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $1,767,900 to fund the assistant state public defender pay progression system. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the public defender board under s. 20.550 (1) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $3,535,800 to fund the assistant state public defender pay progression system.

SB127,21,10 (5) Student loan payment pilot program. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the public defender board under s. 20.550 (1) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $250,000 to conduct a student loan payment pilot program under Section 33 (1) of this act for private bar attorneys who accept public defender appointments and who meet certain additional criteria. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the public defender board under s. 20.550 (1) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $250,000 to conduct a student loan payment pilot program under Section 33 (1) of this act for private bar attorneys who accept public defender appointments and who meet certain additional criteria.

SB127,21,17 (6) Investigations and forensics. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the department of justice under s. 20.455 (2) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $593,300 to increase the authorized FTE positions for the department by 10.0 positions. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the department of justice under s. 20.455 (2) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $742,600 to provide funding for the positions authorized under this subsection.

SB127,22,3 (7) State crime laboratory analysts. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the department of justice under s. 20.455 (2) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $785,400 to increase the authorized FTE positions for the department by 15.0 analyst positions on July 1, 2019, to improve the efficiency of operations at the state crime laboratories. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the department of justice under s. 20.455 (2) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $1,307,600, and for the appropriation to the department of justice under s. 20.455 (2) (kd), the dollar amount is increased by $1,328,700, to provide funding for the positions authorized under this subsection and to provide pay increases to state crime laboratory analysts under s. 230.12 (13).

SB127,22,9 (8) Increase in court appointment rate. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the circuit courts under s. 20.625 (1) (cg), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by $2,500,000 to fund court appointments made at county expense. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the appropriation to the circuit courts under s. 20.625 (1) (cg), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21 is increased by $5,000,000 to fund court appointments made at county expense.

SB127,22,10 (End)