Wisconsin's Public Defender's Office Asking for Changes Regarding the Filing of Criminal Charges

Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 -- 1:01 PM

(Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin’s public defender’s office is asking for changes that aim to reduce how often criminal charges are filed in Wisconsin.

According to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, the proposal submitted to Wisconsin’s Department of Administration is part of the agency’s budget request for the next two fiscal years.

Among other changes, the agency suggests amending state law to limit the definition of criminal disorderly conduct, and getting rid of state criminal charges for marijuana possession.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is weighing requests from state agencies as he prepares to submit a budget recommendation early next year. And Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to approve a final budget before the new fiscal year takes effect on July 1, 2025.

Last year, disorderly conduct was the most-frequently filed criminal charge in Wisconsin, with more than 27,500 cases filed, Wisconsin court system data shows.

“I think it gets used a lot because it’s a good catch all,” Adam Plotkin, a lobbyist for the state Public Defender’s Office, said of the charge. “If you’re not quite sure how it might get charged some other way, that’s kind of the default.”

Currently, Wisconsin state law sets misdemeanor penalties for ” violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct.”

But the State Public Defender’s, or SPD’s, budget proposal would limit that definition, striking the words “indecent, profane, boisterous (and) unreasonably loud” from the law.

Under the proposal, prosecutors could still charge disorderly conduct as a civil offense, according the SPD’s budget analysis. The reforms proposed by the SPD would also remove state criminal charges for marijuana possession, making it an exclusively civil offense.

And the budget request suggests limiting community supervision for offenders who are out of jail or prison to no more than 10 years. The SPD suggests that change could reduce the incarceration rate of people by cutting down on how often people are sent back to prison.

And the office argues it would alleviate some of the SPD’s staffing challenges, since public defenders represent people at administrative hearings when they’re facing the revocation of their community supervision.

Taken together, the SPD argues those changes would cut down on caseloads and save the public defender’s office a projected $8 million in 2027. While the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney in criminal cases, someone who can’t afford to pay doesn’t have the right to an attorney if they’re facing a civil violation.

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