Chisholm Hiring 15 New Prosecutors
District Attorney aims to clear backlog of criminal cases.
John Chisholm. Photo by Grace Fuhr.
Milwaukee County has begun hiring 15 more prosecutors to clear a backlog of criminal cases.
In March, Gov. Tony Evers directed $56 million in federal pandemic aid to communities to address a spike in violent crime and delays in criminal cases caused by the pandemic.
Much of that money is going to Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm told WPR’s “The Morning Show” Thursday that his office is “already in the process of hiring 15 additional prosecutors. The public defenders are working to do the exact same thing. The courts are looking to open up about five additional criminal courts.”
The new hires will help the criminal justice system reach what Chisholm called “equilibrium,” after two years in which too few people had been handling too many cases.
“For one example, we have about 200 people currently in jail just facing homicide charges,” he said. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
State data show Milwaukee had 194 homicides last year, four more than those in 2020 and 97 more than those in 2019.
City data show 2022 may outpace last year’s level.
Milwaukee County DA: Milwaukee aims to clear backlog of criminal cases was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio
UPDATE: The original version of this article overstated the number of homicides in Milwaukee in 2021.
