Eight Republican lawmakers representing Waukesha County are pushing a budget proposal to fund 10 new assistant district attorney positions, citing mounting caseloads and a growing threat to public safety.
The May 20 motion, part of the 2025-2027 state budget process, responds to a months-long campaign by Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese, who has warned that her office is overwhelmed and under-resourced.
“It’s just become a crisis,” Boese told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in April. “I’ve got prosecutors who I think are kind of getting burned out by the hours. At some point, you can’t do more with less.”
RELATED: Should Wisconsin Have So Many Elections?
The Republican representatives — Scott Allen, Barbara Dittrich, Cindi Duchow, Dan Knodl, Dave Maxey, Adam Neylon, Jim Piwowarczyk, and Chuck Wichgers — echoed Boese’s concerns in a joint release, saying the county’s caseload backlog is putting victims and defendants at risk of delayed justice.
“Public safety is the primary function of government,” said Rep. Allen (R-82) in the joint statement. “We cannot keep our community safe if our justice system does not have enough staff to do the work.”
Neylon added that “the justice system in Waukesha County is under immense strain, with a growing backlog of unresolved cases.” Without immediate staffing increases, he said, courts cannot guarantee a fair and timely judicial process.
Rep. Duchow (R-Town of Delafield) pointed to statewide prosecutor staffing data that ranks Waukesha second to last in attorneys per capita. “We’re not talking about a few vacant positions, or having a few extra cases to manage,” she said.
RELATED: MPS Exit Surveys Expose a Crisis of Safety and Spending
Boese has estimated her office is short between 10.6 and 24.7 attorneys, depending on the metric used.
The proposal is not tied to a standalone bill but is among numerous budget motions submitted as the Joint Finance Committee begins shaping the upcoming state budget, which must be finalized before the fiscal year starts on July 1. Rep. Allen noted the DA funding request falls under the Department of Justice’s budget and remains one of many items up for debate.
The request also fits into a broader plea from Waukesha County for more state support to fulfill mandated services like law enforcement and prosecution. The county previously considered — and then dropped — a proposal to implement a local sales tax in 2025 to help cover these costs.
In a May 21 statement, Boese expressed gratitude to the legislators backing her office: “The lack of funding for prosecutors in Wisconsin has hit a crisis level,” she said.