WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The judicial system in Central Wisconsin remains backlogged more than a year after the COVID shutdown. Most court proceedings came to a halt.
For just over a year, the Marathon County District Attorney’s Office was not able to try cases at the same rate. The office had to move to zoom and was not able to have hearings and jury trials. Some assistant district attorneys are dealing with case loads 2-3 higher than the normal amount.
Kyle Mayo, ADA for Marathon County said “Some of our attorneys are handling upwards of 500-600 cases at any given time.”
Portage County DA Office said the amount of hours worked and the amount of cases is making it harder to find new attorneys. “Right now there are 15 open assistant district attorney positions in the offices state wide. ” Louis Molepeske Portage County DA told WAOW-TV. “We have an opening right now that we cannot fill, and that’s problematic.”
In a effort to push through the backlog Portage county has 32 trials scheduled through the end of the year. Molepske says that is extremely high. The office typically sees no more than ten trials a year.
