The number of district attorneys throughout the state could be reduced if budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jim Doyle are approved.

Under the proposal, the statewide budget for district attorneys would be cut by about 6 percent, according to Richard DuFour, Marquette County district attorney and secretary for the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association.

David Schmiedicke, state budget director, said the cuts to the district attorneys are higher than the cuts for other programs because the contracts for state’s assistant district attorneys have not yet been settled. As a result, the assistant district attorneys have been working without a contract since 2007.

“The size of the reduction looks larger for the district attorneys because they have not settled the contracts with the state whereas most other representatives or unions have settled,” Schmiedicke said. “The money had to be taken out [of the prosecutors’ budget] until such a time that there is an agreement.”

Once an agreement is reached, Schmiedicke added, the prosecutors will only face the 1 percent budget cut required for all state programs under the governor’s proposed budget.

In addition to the budget cuts, three vacant positions in DA offices currently funded by federal grant programs that have run out of money will be cut as well, Schmiedicke said.

According to Timothy Baxter, WDAA president, even with a 1 percent budget cut, DA offices throughout the state will still suffer.

“We’re unique in the state in that when the budget for the prosecution only pays for salary benefits,” Baxter said. “When the budget gets cut, people get cut.”

The cuts are a stark contrast to the more than 100 positions the Department of Administration originally wanted to add and district attorneys claim they need, according DuFour.

“You can’t ask prosecutors to do much more than they’re already doing,” DuFour said, adding he usually works around 60 hours a week.

As a result of the already low salaries, likely to decrease with budget cuts, district attorneys are leaving the prosecutors’ offices throughout the state and going into private practice, DeFour noted.

According to DuFour, to help offset the cuts, district attorneys throughout the state presented a proposal to Doyle to increase the alcohol tax.

“Not a significant increase to the public … maybe 50 cents on a 24-pack of beer would fund all the assistance we requested,” DuFour said. “We certainly understand … they need to make some decisions about how to handle the budget deficit.”

However, Doyle said he would not increase the tax, DuFour said.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin is against the cuts to the DA as well.

“Governor Doyle has suspect priorities if he’s willing to cut District Attorneys working to keep our communities safe while throwing money into building commuter rail systems that people don’t support,” said RPW spokesperson Kirsten Kukowski. “Public safety should always be a priority.”

Schmiedicke acknowledged that DAs throughout the state will face various hard cuts, but they are not alone.

“A number of programs are taking even deeper cuts than this one. … It’s an extremely difficult budget,” Schmiedicke said. “[Doyle] had to protect health care and education, the top priorities.”