Senator Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, thanked legislators for their support after the Joint Committee on Finance, the state’s budget-writing committee, voted to include the efforts he led to secure 42 new statewide assistant district attorneys (ADAs), as well as funding for pay increases for prosecutors, in the 2025-26 state budget.
“Investing in new assistant district attorneys across Wisconsin is an important part of tackling the rising case backlog in courtrooms across our state,” he said. “These ADAs will help process cases and deliver swift justice. I’m happy to have guided these initiatives through the budget committee and thank my colleagues for their support.”
A number of the included ADA positions will be created in northeast Wisconsin, including seven in Brown County, two in Shawano-Menominee Counties, and 0.5 positions in both Marinette and Oconto counties.
In addition to the new ADA positions, the committee voted to provide new funding over the next two years to upgrade and secure the case tracking system technology used by Wisconsin prosecutors.
The committee also voted to deliver new funding over the next two years to the State Public Defender’s office. These funds will support the hiring of 12.5 positions to address workload issues, and ensure courts process cases in a timely manner across Wisconsin.
Once the proposed budget is completed, the legislature, in both the Assembly and the Senate, will vote on the budget bill. Once passed by both houses, it goes to the governor who has the power to sign the budget bill into law or to issue vetoes to specific parts of the bill.
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