Milwaukee County asks for OK to fund 2 ADA positions through September.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office isasking for permission to use grant money to continue paying for two assistant district attorneypositions.

The Joint Committee on Finance received the requestfor review on Friday.It asks for the committee's approval to use a grant provided to Milwaukee County from the Office of Violence Against Women through the Improving Criminal Justice Response Programto pay the salaries for two prosecutors through September.

The current grant runs out in July. But the county expects to receive a new grant on Oct. 1, receiving enough money to pay the two prosecutors' salaries. The county can pay them in the interim, but it needs approval from the JFC to do so because the positions are paid by the state.

The two prosecutors work exclusively on domestic-violence cases.They handle felony caseloads vertically, meaning the same prosecutor will handle a case from start to finish. Vertical prosecution yield between conviction rates that are between 15% and 20% higher on felony cases, according to Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney Bruce Landgraf.

"The two felony ICJR prosecutors are an integral part of a program designed to make direct contact with domestic violence victims and to provide one-on-one attention to them," Landgraf said in a letter submitted with the request.

TheImproving Criminal Justice Response Program helps combat violent crimes against women by strengthening...