Prosecutors and public defenders in Wisconsin are getting a raise in the next state budget.
Lawmakers in Madison yesterday voted to spend nearly 26-million-dollars to boost pay in the courtroom. The hourly rate for public defenders will jump from 40 dollars-an-hour to 70 dollars-an-hour. Legal advocates have complained for years that low pay has created a shortage of lawyers who will handle public defense cases, particularly in rural parts of the state.
